The Blackstar
by KurooPicaro
Summary: A former delinquent gets sent to a small town where a series of mysterious kidnappings are taking place, and it's up to him and his new friends to solve the mystery by entering a strange world where the darker parts of humanity are displayed. This story, staring original characters, is mostly inspired by the Persona series, with a few concepts and themes borrowed from JJBA.
1. Ch1: A New Town

**Ch1: New Town**

The train shook continuously as it sped through the rails. The paint was starting to come off in some places and the lights flickered at every bump. The orange covers on the seats were very old, with various scratches on them, some seats even had bits of the covers missing, the yellow filling coming off, clear as day for any passanger to see. It was an old train, one that had been relegated to only make the less crowded trips, just like that one: the last train between the metropolitan S-City and the small town of Moriohcho.

A young man sat in one of the orange seats, with his head down, loud music blasting from his dark-blue headphones. He was a tall athletic youth, sixteen years old since since a few months now. His black hair was spiked on the top of his head and fell in a short fringe on his forehead. His sharp dark eyes had a slight green tint to them as they kept staring vacantly through the window in front of him, where barely anything could be seen amongst the darkness surrounding the train tracks. He tapped distractedly with his foot, following the rhythm of the song.

Just as the song ended, he heard a small jingle coming from the speakers in the train cart, followed by a slightly distorted pre-recorded message:

" _Next Stop: Moriohcho Station._ "

He nodded to himself, lowering the headphones to his neck, taking his phone from the pocket of his jeans and pausing the new song that was just starting. Getting up from his seat, he adjusted his jacket and picked up his grey travel bag, approaching the door closest to him. As the train began to slow down, approaching the station, he took another look around, seeing his cart companions: a few salary men in ill-fitting suits, and a few other youths around his age. Not many people took that train, and not without good reason.

With a sudden jolt, the train finally stopped. The cart doors slid to the sides, letting the passengers out into the station. Moriohcho station was still quite spacious, with three tracks and a second floor. On the ground floor, there was a small bakery, a bright coloured souvenir shop and the ticket seller as well as a help desk; however, all of the different offices were already closed due to the late hour, and the only personnel remaining to be seen were security guards. Feeling a bit thirsty, he walked up to the vending machine closest to the door, taking a soda from it and cracking it open, drinking a few gulps, lamenting how it was a bit warm.

He leaned against a wall for a second, while he drank, admiring how despite the town's small size and population, the station was still somewhat impressive. In truth, while not being especially known for tourism, it wasn't uncommon for people to come visit their relatives, and its hospital was well known and rated in the region. The calm mountain town was also a very appetizing setting for people tired of the rush of a major city.

"The station's closing," a station guard told him.

He nodded, drinking the last drops of his warm orange soda and throwing the can into a rubbish bin, walking out of the building. He had to lift his bag with his right hand to descend the staircases on the outside and into the town, walking into a the station plaza. In the other times where he had visited, that plaza was one of the most populated areas of the town, where it wasn't uncommon to find children playing or people going out for a stroll. However, at such a late hour, almost nobody was sitting on the stone benches sprinkled around the place. He couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia in being there again, after all, the last time he had visited had been years ago. His maternal grandparents had lived there, but shortly after his last visit, they had moved to the city to join him and his parents. Only a single family member remained, his aunt, who had chosen to stay and keep her job as a nurse in the town's hospital.

"Daisuke! Here!"

He smiled as he recognized the voice, looking to his side, finding a woman walking up to him. She was of medium height, with a heart-shaped face, full lips and large dark brown eyes. Her auburn hair fell in soft curls to her shoulders. She wore hospital scrubs underneath a warm-looking wool midnight-blue cardigan. From the shadows under her eyes and from her clothes, she had surely just come off a long shift at the hospital, but the gentle, caring smile she gave him was unmistakable: that was his aunt Saeko Hirose.

He met her halfway, gladly accepting the strong hug his aunt gave him. Letting go of him, she took a quick look at him, from head to toes. Although his aunt Saeko still looked nearly identical to the last time he had seen her, he had changed quite a bit.

"Look at you so tall!" she chuckled giving him a pat on the arm, "I don't think you'll be able to enter the house without hitting your head."

"It's OK, aunt Saeko," he said playfully, "I'll duck if I need to, no worries."

"Hum-hum," she nodded, beckoning him to start following her, as she made her way across the plaza, "So, how are your parents? And your grandparents too, of course. Are they well?"

"Yeah, all of them are fine," he said, puling on his trolley bag, making it roll across the ground behind him, "They wanted to thank you for acting as my guardian while I'm here. And for letting me stay in your house too, of course."

"How could I say no? You're family, Daisuke," Saeko smiled, looking at him briefly from the side, "Besides, having some company at the house isn't so bad. Especially if you're willing to help me out with cleaning and that sort of stuff."

"Sure. It's the least I can do."

Past the station plaza, they had only to travel up a small street until they reached the centre of the town, where inside a large roundabout there was a pleasant garden with many different flowers, of varied colours and shapes, placed around a statue, a monument to a local folk hero, believed to be the town's founder. From the roundabout, the town spread in multiple directions. He recalled that upwards towards the mountains was where the school was, the high school that he had been transferred to, Budoga Oka High School. He took a look towards where he thought the school should be, but in the night it was hard to make it anything to far away, especially with the fog that had now started to creep in.

Saeko had not climbed up towards the school and the mountains, however, but downwards, walking into a series of streets lined with houses on both sides, into the main residential area of the town. As they didn't cross paths with anyone, Daisuke began to think how calming it must be to live there, compared to how stressful it was on S-City, where it seemed like everyone was always late and running to fulfil a tight schedule at any hour of the day. There, however, there was barely anyone in the streets at that time, even if quite a few houses had their lights on, and the faint sound of talking and laughter could be heard from some of those.

"This place must be really quiet," Daisuke said distractedly, looking around, "Guess there isn't much to be worried about, really."

"Oh, you'd be wrong, Dai-chan" his aunt made a wry smile, "There has been quite a situation as of late, with the shopkeepers all banding together against the big shopping centre in town."

"A shopping centre?" the youth asked, surprised, "I don't remember one from when I was last here."

"It's quite recent, only opened up half a year ago. It's called 'LuckyLand'," Saeko gave a small nod, "It's actually owned by the Yamaguchi family, who have always lived here. They used to have a large convenience store, but they invested extra to expand it into a shopping centre. I guess they are trying to get more tourism going for the town, but there are some people who think they are trying to run the other businesses into the ground." she sighed, "Anyway, don't bother yourself with that. I heard it's a popular spot for kids your age, so you may like it."

Daisuke nodded. In a way, the Yamaguchi family was similar to his own. The Ichijou's had changed their previously small fruit parlour into a company that managed to export nation-wide, even internationally. Yet, he could also sympathise with the smaller business that could be affected by the new, more modern competitor. He wondered how strange it was for him to get his head into mercantile warfare as soon as he had stepped back into the small town.

They had only to walk for a few moments more before Saeko stopped in front of a house that was instantly recognizable to him. Behind a small stone wall, where a plaque had been placed with the name "Hirose" written on it, was a traditional looking house, with an additional floor over the ground one. Saeko took her keys from her pocket, passing by the gate and through the very small garden, heading for the door. She lead Daisuke into the foyer and then to a cosy living room, with a short table, a dark grey couch, some pillows laid on the wooden fkooe, and a medium sized flatscreen television. A wind chime was placed next to the glass panels that separated the inside from the backyard, that was now filing with fog. Barely anything had changed since last he had stayed there.

"You can take your mum's room upstairs, I already cleaned it up for you," Saeko said, taking of her jacket, placing it by the door, "I'm glad someone else can stay here and watch the house. Sometimes I have late shifts and don't get to come home, so knowing you're here makes me less worried. Anyway: Welcome home."

"Thank you, aunt Saeko," Daisuke took a sincere bow, showing his gratitude. As he straightened himself, he had to take his hand to his mouth to contain a yawn, "Well, guess I'll take my stuff upstairs then".

"Hang on", she asked. Her tone had become much less graceful. She turned to look straight at him, "I know you're tired and need to sleep, so I won't push you tonight; Tomorrow, though, we're going to talk about why you're here. I want the truth."

The truth. He had dreaded talking about it, but it wasn't like he shouldn't have expected it. Why else would he suddenly move away from the city, where he was being groomed to become his father's successor in running their company, to go live with his aunt in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Obviously questions would be asked. What he wasn't keen on, was answering those questions. He himself wasn't too sure of the answers. They still tormented his thoughts.

"I will," Daisuke nodded, "I promise".

A kind, understanding smile came back to his young aunt's face. Wishing him a good night of sleep, she went back onto the living room, leaving him with the task of pulling and dragging his travel bag with him, up the stairs and through the hallway, finding the door of his mother's old room and stepping into the small bedroom.

The room that had belonged to his mother, and was now his, was small yet welcoming, with light coloured walls, a redwood wardrobe and desk, a mostly empty shelf with only a few books, a small older, blocky television on top of a stand covered in green cloth, and a large and comfortable bed, whose covers where the same tone of green as the cloth under the TV and as the window dressings.

He threw unceremoniously his travel bag onto the bed, starting to unpack. He took special attention to leave his new uniform on the chair, to be worn on the next day. He then swapped his clothes, changing into the grey slacks and black long-sleeved shirt of the pyjamas, pulling the covers on the bed, preparing to go to sleep when he remembered that he had forgotten to charge his phone.

He walked back to his previously worn clothes, searching for the phone on the right side pocket of his jeans, taking it out and looking at the black screen.

"No battery," he mumbled to himself after he pressed the unlocking button with no success, "Right... Time to charge you up".

He took the charger of the desk drawer where he had just stored it, and took it near the bed, to plug it into the outlet, but just as he was about to connect it to his phone, something unexpected happened, as the sound of buzzing came off from the speaker, and the screen was filled with static.

"Huh? It's broken?" Daisuke furrowed his brow.

As he was cursing his bad luck, he looked back into the phone and he saw something even stranger: It wasn't just normal static, there appeared to be a humanoid silhouette in the middle of it. He felt a chill running across him, as the silhouette looked straight at him, a barely visible mouth saying something he couldn't hear or understand. It pointed its hand to him and talked again. Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it disappeared again, the static completely gone, the screen as black as night. Daisuke felt a cold sweat, staring at the phone waiting for an explanation that didn't come. He used his free hand to rub his eyes, and as he looked again, nothing was there.

"What the hell?" he looked into his phone with a puzzled expression, "That... Was I imagining things?".

Daisuke looked at the black screen for a few more seconds, before plugging the charger into the phone, and, as soon as he did it, his phone vibrated and a picture of an empty battery was shown with a "0% charging" message underneath.

What was going on with his phone? It seemed to work well while he was on the train and now, after turning it on while charging, it also seemed to be perfectly normal.

 _It's just my imagination_ , he thought _, I'm tired, I should go to sleep_. He laid back down on the comfortable bed and, after turning around a few times, eventually fell asleep. Deep in his mind, however, the strange vision had stayed and it took over his dreams.


	2. Ch2: Budoga Oka

**Ch2: Budoga Oka**

The sun was partly hidden behind the clouds when Daisuke left the house on the next morning. His aunt Saeko had an early shift at the hospital, so she was already out of the house when he woke up, but had left him a written note along with a copy of the key to the house.

The school uniform he was wearing was constituted of a white button shirt, a black blazer jacket, with the school's logo on the left, and black pants with a dark grey plaid pattern. While technically the uniform was meant to be worn with a black tie, apparently, the dress code was not completely enforced, so the students had some freedom in how they chose to wear their uniform, so Daisuke decided to skip on the tie and left his jacket open and the white shirt untucked.

As he walked back past the main plaza, going up towards the top of the hill, where the school was located, Daisuke took his phone from his pocket, unlocking it, and sliding his finger around it for a bit, noticing that nothing seemed to be wrong with it, in fact, it seemed to be completely normal. _What the hell was that last night?_ He thought to himself once again, before placing it back in his pocket and picking up the pace.

The gates to Budoga Oka High School were wide open, a lot of students were pouring through them to the rather expansive courtyard, lined with small cherry blossom trees, before the three stories tall building, with a large clock on a small tower up front. Despite the fact that Moriohcho was a relatively small town, its High School was definitely impressive.

As he went past the main doors, he remembered that he was meant to go to the faculty office, so someone could inform him of his timetable and which class he was in. There was a map handily placed at the entrance, so he had an easy time navigating the lightly coloured hallways and finding his way through the western corridor on the first floor and the room he was looking for.

Upon entering it, he could see several filing cabinets lining the walls, and quite a few desks with teachers sitting at them. One of the sitting staff members, a lean man with greying short hair, a goatee and round rimmed glasses, looked at him:

"Good morning, you are Daisuke Ichijou-san, correct?" the man asked, adjusting his glasses, and later pointing at the chair in front of him, "Please take a seat".

Daisuke followed the man's instructions, laying his black school bag next to the chair and sitting in front of the man that was now searching for something amidst the papers on his desk. Daisuke could read the man's name on the small nameplate on top of his desk: "Shinra Kujiragi".

"You transferred here from Kaijo Academy of S-City, correct?"

"Yes, I spent my first year there" Daisuke told the man, "I will probably move back there after this year too".

"Very well, we've been informed of that. Aha, here it is" the man took a paper sheet from the pile, "You are on class 2-A. Mr. Suneo Sakakibara is your homeroom teacher".

Daisuke took the paper from Mr. Kujiragi, seeing the timetable printed on it, where his class, and teachers were also written.

"You should hurry along, now," Kujiragi looked at his shiny wristwatch, "Class should be about to start and Mr. Sakakibara doesn't like to wait. Good luck, Ichijou-san."

He thanked the teacher, picking his bag back up and leaving the room, climbing the staircase up towards the second floor, where he found Classroom 2-A easily, however, it seemed that his new classmates were already inside when he arrived and slid opened the door to a medium sized classroom, with individual desks, where students were already sat at.

"And that's... Huh? Who are you?"

The teacher had stopped his speech as soon as he heard the door slide, as he stared at Daisuke. He was a short man, with short dark hair, wearing a very ill-fitting green suit, that didn't do much to hide the man's pronounced gut, or his extremely thick neck. The sunken eyes behind the glasses barely hid his annoyance.

"Oh yes, you're the transfer student, ain'tcha?" the man Daisuke assumed to be Mr. Sakakibara continued, "Just what I needed, another "city boy". Do me a favour and write your name and introduce yourself to your classmates."

Instantly Daisuke felt an intense dislike for that man. Everything about him rubbed him the wrong way, but especially the sideways looks at him, like he was challenging him to try and talk back. He wasn't about to let himself loose his cool by some self-obsessed teacher, however, so he quietly nodded and headed to the black board, picking up a chalk stick and writing his name, the same kanji ended both his first and last name.

"Daijou Ichijou, huh?" Sakakibara said with contempt.

"Daisuke Ichijou," he corrected him in a neutral tone.

"Whatever, I don't give a crap, city boy," he grinded his teeth, "Go find a seat before I get mad, you idiot."

Daisuke gave his new homeroom teacher a sideways glance of his own, almost tempting him to do something, but still, he complied, going towards the end of the class, taking one of the few available seats, sitting behind a dark haired girl by the window.

"Ichijou-kun."

He turned his head to look at the girl sitting to his right, who had amber shoulder length hair kept in place with black hairpins, light brown coloured eyes and a heart-shaped faced with a small perky nose. She wore the female uniform, who was quite similar to the male version but with a skirt instead of pants, however, she wore an orange hooded jacket underneath her blazer.

"Don't worry about Sakakibaka, ok?" the girl told him in a low voice, "He's a jerk to everybody, most people just ignore him."

"I can see why," Daisuke whispered, taking another glance at the teacher who he was just finishing wiping the name from the blackboard, "Thanks."

"You're welcome. I'm Riko Kida." The girl gave him a friendly smile, "If you need something, I'll try to help."

"Hey! You back there! Shut the hell up!" Sakakibara shouted.

Daisuke smiled defiantly, but he and Riko didn't say nothing more, listening to the lecture. While it originally started monotonous, it only got worse as the hours went on. Sakakibara barely even mentioned the subject he was teaching, Japanese literature, instead focusing on forcing his distorted world view onto his students, about how students, and youths in general should and shouldn't act, and how the core values of society were slowly rotting. From the looks of his classmates around him, Daisuke could tell that this wasn't a rare occurrence.

When class finally ended, an audible sigh of relief could be heard around the room. A boy sitting in front of Riko and diagonally to Daisuke immediately stood up and turned around, sitting on his desk. He had blond-dyed hair, large brown eyes, an earring in his right ear, and was wearing a yellow t-shirt with black designs instead of the white button shirt of the uniform.

"One of these days, Sakakibaka is going to blow up from all that anger," the boy said with an exasperated expression, his voice lacked the accent found in most residents, "Hope it's soon."

"Don't count on that," Riko sighed, "At least be grateful he found a new target."

"Oh yeah!" The blonde boy looked at Daisuke, "Sorry, mate. I transferred here last year, and he spent the entire year calling me 'city boy' and all that crap. Guess it's your turn now."

"You're from S-City too?" Daisuke asked.

"Yup, name's Tatsuya Mikado" the boy gave a large smile, pointing to himself with his thumb, "My dad got a nice job offer here, so me and my mum came with him. This place kinda sucks though, huh?"

"You are the one who sucks, Bakatsuya," Riko protested, leaning forward on her desk, her eyes flaring with murderous intent, "This place is great! It's pretty, it's got lots to do..."

"Maybe for you who spent her whole life here in the boonies!" Tatsuya crossed his arms, "You agree with me, right Ichijou?"

"I don't know, I've only been here a handful of times before," Daisuke admitted, shrugging, "But I don't think it's that bad."

"Well, I have an idea" Riko said, dialling herself back, and picking up her bag, "How about we take you on a tour of the town when classes end? You get to know the town, and Tatsu gets to eat his words."

"Ah, sure, why not?" Daisuke said with a nod.

The classes that followed the first one were much less of a bad time than that rude first impact, in fact, of the other teachers that had lectured them the rest of the day, most of them had been at least halfway interesting to listen to, or, at the very little, not as offensive and rage inducing as Sakakibara. When the last bell rung, signaling the end of the last classes, the corridors were flooded with students hurrying to leave the school.

Daisuke left the school together with the two classmates he had been speaking to through the day, Tatsuya and Riko. The afternoon sun was still hidden when they reached the courtyard, with even more clouds in the sky than there had been during morning. Riko suggested that they should start with the Shopping District, as it was where most people liked to spend their time, and the most iconic place on the town, and the other two agreed, following her.

As they were walking towards the district, he got to know more about his new classmates. Riko had lived her whole life in Moriohcho, and was a huge fan of typically horror films, while Tatsuya, on the other hand, couldn't stand "scary stuff", and was more into just playing sports, namely volleyball, being the newly appointed captain of the school's team.

"Oh yeah, Daisuke-kun," Riko called, "Why did you move here? Will you stay here?"

"Nah, I'm just going to spend this year here and then I'll go back," he answered, "My parents wanted me to, hum... Spend a year away from home."

"Huh, why?" Tatsuya raised an eyebrow, before adding with a sly smile, "Are you some kind of criminal?"

 _Yes_ , he thought.

"Leave him alone, you idiot," Riko intervened punching his arm, "Anyways... Daisuke-kun, we're here."

They had reached a long and wide street that went down along the hill and whose sides were filled with a large variety of shops, some smaller, some larger, but almost all of them had a very unique charm and style. As they walked down, Riko and sometimes Tatsuya, would remark on a certain store as they passed by: The diner with the delicious ramen, the peculiar antique store, the restaurant opened by an Italian immigrant or the book store that had an impressive collection of rare books.

"My parents own that one," Riko said, pointing to a textile shop with a green sign where in gold ' _Kida Fabrics_ ' was written, "We actually get quite a lot of costumers".

"Don't you guys have a problem with the shopping centre?" Daisuke asked, looking at the store front.

"Oh, LuckyLand? Kinda..." Riko shrugged, "Most people prefer their 'All in one place' shtick, but we do have a lot of faithful costumers, so we're not that bothered."

"In case you wanted more evidence where at the world's end, a shopping centre is a problem here," Tatsuya mocked, "Hey, I'm kinda hungry, wanna grab a bite to eat?"

"Sure, but I'm kinda short on money, so no fancy food allowed," Riko said with an ashamed look.

"Spent it all on your lame manga again?" the blond boy asked with a wry smile.

"It's alright, we can eat anywhere, I'm not picky." Daisuke said with a reassuring smile.

"Thanks!" Riko nodded cheerfully, before turning back to Tatsuya, "You should be more like him, you know?"

Tatsuya made an exaggerated expression of annoyance before taking the other two with him deeper into the district and into the largest and most recent building: LuckyLand. Riko gave Tatsuya a semi-annoyed look, but eventually did ignore it, probably as the shopping centre did have cheaper priced food.

On the roof of the large building there were several food stores, with tables scattered about with a large parasol in each. They each got burgers, sitting at one of the tables. To Daisuke's surprise, it was quite a tasty burger, one of the best he had eaten in a while.

"Oh yeah, I remembered something," Riko said when Tatsuya had picked up his phone after eating, "Tatsu, you heard about the Dead Phone Watch Rumour?"

Daisuke, whose attention had veered off, instantly refocused on the conversation.

"The what rumour?" Tatsuya mumbled between bites.

"Are you talking about phones turning on with no battery?" Daisuke asked.

"Yeah, you heard about it, Daisuke-kun?" Riko looked surprised.

"Wait, the hell are you two talking about?" Tatsuya looked confused at both of them.

"It's this weird rumour going around," Riko began to explain, "They say that if you have your phone turned off during a foggy night, it will turn on by itself, even with no battery."

"What?" Tatsuya chuckled unconvinced, "You really have been watching way too many freaky movies. That's so dumb."

"It's true."

Upon Daisuke's sentence, both of his new friends stared at him.

"When I got here last night, my battery ran out" Daisuke continued, "When I was going to charge it, it suddenly started to show static, and there seemed to be some sort of silhouette in the middle."

"Oh my God!" Riko had her mouth open in shock, "So the rumour was true!"

"Oh don't be ridiculous, he's just pranking you." Tatsuya said.

"I'm not" Daisuke insisted, "It's true, I saw something."

"A ghost?" Tatsuya asked in a mocking tone.

"I don't know what I saw for sure," he admitted, "But there was something there."

"Hey, tonight is going to be foggy, right?" Riko asked cautiously, "We should all turn off our phones and see if something comes up."

"Fine..." Tatsuya sighed, "I still think you two are making this shit up, but I'll play along."

Having all agreed on trying it and with the sun coming down on the horizon, they each went their separate ways, to their respective homes.


	3. Ch3: Who I Am And Who I Was

**Ch3: Who I Am and Who I was**

The sun had already set when finally Saeko returned to her home, visibly exhausted from another day at the hospital, however, she put up a tired smile when she saw her nephew sitting at the table, waiting for her.

"Hope you like takeaway food," Saeko said, lowering the bags she had hurriedly gotten, and placing them on the table. "I'm a decent cook, but when I have this shift I just go for the fast option."

"It's alright, I don't mind," Daisuke smiled, trying to comfort his aunt, taking the lid off his meal. "Work went well?"

"Yes, actually. Old Mrs. Tamaki was finally cleared, she had gotten hurt when she tripped, but now she's back home, so I'm really happy for her," Saeko waited a bit to chew her food, thinking to herself. "And you? How's school?"

"Good, I think. School's bigger than I thought," Daisuke ate some more. Even if it wasn't anything to write home about, it still was quite a tasty meal, especially for someone as hungry as he was. "Not a fan of our homeroom teacher, though."

"Let me guess... You got Mr. Sakakibara?" Upon Daisuke's nod, Saeko sighed. "I still don't know how they let him continue teaching. He's such an unlikeable man."

"Already hated me before I walked in," Daisuke shrugged, "Guess he doesn't take kindly to city folk."

"Just make sure to not get into trouble, and he won't bother you too much," she ate some more before continuing, "Did you make some friends?"

"I guess so. I talked with this guy, Tatsuya Mikado, and this girl, Riko Kida," he said. "They seem like nice people."

"Mikado-kun is also from the city, right? I remember someone with that last name moving here last year, they seem like nice people. Riko-chan I actually had already met, I've gone to their shop a few times before. Seems you found good friends to hang around with," a large pause followed her last comment, as if she was scanning him, before she talked again, "I hope you didn't forget your promise."

He nodded, looking back down to his almost empty plate. He hadn't forgotten, how could he? He was there for a reason, he was there because he had made a lot of wrong decisions. He knew that his parents had kept the reason under wraps, even going as far as to not to tell aunt Saeko, his guardian for the year, why he was there. However, for as much shame and guilt as he felt, he also knew that, unless he talked about it and came to terms with it, he would never really be able to improve himself.

"Ever since a year ago, I was a part of the Ghosts, a street gang back in the city," Daisuke finally said, the words hurting him as they left his mouth, "I learned about 'em through some friends from school. I was bored out of my life, I couldn't just stay put, I needed something to do. Something that gave me some sort of purpose. So I... I joined them."

He avoided looking at her for a while, as his mind was flooded with images of his time with his old gang. He waited patiently for his aunt to say something, to chastise him or otherwise, but as he looked back at her, she sat silently. Why _aren't you saying something?,_ he thought looking at his aunt's face. She no longer looked tired, in fact, she seemed to be hanging on his every word, but kept quiet, waiting for him to speak again.

"We were in fights a lot. I was good at it. At fighting," he continued through the uncomfortable silence, "I'm pretty sure mum and dad knew about it. I did come home with bruises from time to time, but they either ignored it, or didn't know what to tell me... I also didn't know what to tell them so we were just in this awkward impasse."

Why was he fighting? He had thought about it a lot. Was he doing it just for the adrenaline and the rush of blood that came from punching someone? Was he doing it as a misguided attempt to get people's attention, a call for his absent minded parents to show them that their son was more than just the little heir they wanted? He didn't really know. Frankly, he kind of didn't want to know. Yet, that didn't change the fact that he had done it, and that now he had to pay for it.

"It was just some dumb fights between some stupid kids, nothing else," he looked up at the ceiling, taking a deep breath. "Until one day, when a few policemen came to stop us and we all ran away. I didn't want anything to happen... but one of the policeman, he followed after me and, as we went past a road, he was hit by a car." Daisuke clenched his fists in anger and guilt, "He survived, in fact, it seems he can make a full recovery, but he was lucky. He could've died and it would've been my fault".

As he sat, guilt and self-loathing brewing within him, the memories were coming back: the dimly lit street, him running as fast as he could, changing directions quickly to evade pursuit and then the image of the car, appearing as if out of nowhere, hitting officer Kunizuka and sending him flying into the air, before crashing violently back onto the ground. Daisuke had rushed to kneel beside the man, calling for an ambulance as the policeman drifted out of consciousness. He later had tried to go visit the man while he was on the hospital, but his parents, fearing legal action, had forbidden him.

"So that's why you're here... to stay away from home and from your gang friends," his aunt finally talked, her expression seemingly tired again but still very much paying attention.

"A few of the other kids that were caught ratted me out. They said I was a part of the gang and had been involved in that incident, but the police didn't really have much evidence besides their testimony, which they considered unreliable. I guess they didn't want to mess with the Ichijou estate with such weak evidence. Still, my parents decided to send me here to keep me away, to lay low and rethink my life," he crossed his arms, avoiding direct eye contact, he didn't want to see that disappointment and hurt in Saeko's eyes. "But I'm sure officer Kunizuka knew who I was. I went back to help him, even with the hood and how dark it was, he could see my face, I'm sure. But he didn't report me, and... I don't know why he didn't."

"You said it was an accident and you went back to help him, didn't you?", Saeko asked, looking up thinking, before staring back at him, forcing him to look back at her, "Perhaps he saw that you were just a lost kid, and wanted to give you a second chance."

"But why would he? I'm a screw-up," he bit his lip, frustrated. "This isn't punishment. They thought that keeping me in this small town would teach me something, but what? I should pay for what I did."

"Dai-chan," Saeko raised her right hand, reaching over and placing it gently on his shoulder, "What's done is done. What you're feeling, that remorse and guilt... It's already a pretty hefty punishment. Maybe you're right, maybe you should've been sent to jail, but you weren't," she gave him a small smile, "You have to get back up and redeem yourself by being the best person you can be. The Daisuke I see in front of me now isn't an arrogant criminal, he's a boy trying to regain his footing. You'll make it back, trust me."

Saeko's kind, caring smile and her words made Daisuke himself smile weakly. He wasn't sure if those feelings of guilt would ever fade, if he would stop having that nagging sensation that whenever he was having fun, that he should be instead trapped in a prison paying for his misdeeds. But his aunt seemed to believe in him and maybe she was right, maybe the Daisuke Ichijou from Morioh could be a good person and make up for what the Daisuke Ichijou from S-City had done.

"Thanks," he said, not knowing what else he could say.

Saeko ruffled his hair in a maternally way before starting to lift the plates and clean the dishes, just as Daisuke felt a rumble in his pocket and he took out his phone to see a text from Tatsuya, with whom he had exchanged phone numbers earlier:

 _"_ _Hey dont forget about our dumb bet turn that phone off k? ;) "_

He had almost forgotten about it, but now his curiosity was spiked again. What had he seen last night? Was Riko's rumour really true, or was he just imagining things? Whatever it was, he was going to find out.

"Hey, I'm kinda tired, you mind if I go up?", he asked, getting up from his chair.

"Sure, no problem, I'll go sleep in a bit too", Saeko smiled to him again, "Good night, sleep well".

He nodded in response, making his way back up towards his room, exchanging his uniform for his pyjamas and walking up to the window, noticing the fog on the other side. For the weird phenomenon to happen, it seemed that it had to be foggy, so if it was real, it had to happen that day.

Looking at his phone, he still had some battery left. The rumour went that the phone had to be switched off, not necessarily out of battery like it had been the night before, so he decided to turn it off, seeing the screen blacken as the power went out. He stared at his phone for a few minutes, but there didn't seem to be anything happening. Maybe it wasn't just 'at night', but there had to be a specific time for it. He didn't recall the time when he had seen his phone light up the day prior, but he did remember that it was later than the time it was currently, so he laid his phone down by his side on the desk as he picked a book and decided to skim through it to help pass the time, since, despite it being only the first day of classes, Sakakibara had already assigned them books to study.

Sleep was almost getting the better off him when he went back to his bed and picked the phone back up, once again the screen was pitch black. He was beginning to think that he probably had been just dreaming the night before when, all of a sudden, the screen flickered on once more. The strange static he had seen the last time appeared and Daisuke felt the hairs on the back of his neck tense up. From the corner of his eye he saw the time on his clock: Midnight.

He studied the static once more, this time however, the picture seemed to be a lot clearer than before, with him being able to see what seemed to be a dark city covered in what appeared to be a red mist or fog. The silhouette he had seen last time also appeared, this time, he could also discern something more about it: it was a girl, dressed in a uniform that could only be Budoga Oka's. Her features were still very much hard to discern in the grainy quality, but he could see that her hair was dyed in a reddish tone, and she wore it in a braid.

Just as soon as he could start to distinguish some features, however, it went away and the phone was back to being completely black, as the clock on the table read "00:01".

 _It's real_ , he thought, _Whatever the hell this is, I didn't imagine it_.

He turned his phone back on, and as soon as he did, he immediately got a call:

" _Holy crap! You saw that!?_ " Tatsuya's voice rang loudly on the other side, loud enough to make Daisuke have to hold the phone away from his ear, " _Some weird shit was going down there!_ "

"I told you," answered Daisuke, "I thought I was just imagining things, but if you saw it too, then there's really something there."

"Yeah… Hey, what did you see? You saw a girl too, right?"

"I think so," Daisuke nodded to himself, "Braided hair and a Budoga uniform".

"Yup, same thing I saw," Tatsuya's excitement was almost palpable, "Hang on, I gotta call Riko. We'll talk about this tomorrow, alright?"

Daisuke agreed to continue the conversation later and they both said their goodbyes, before Tatsuya ended the call, certainly eager to have the same discussion with Riko, while Daisuke kept looking at the unlocked phone for a long while thinking: _What the hell did all of that mean?_


	4. Ch4: The Nature of the Unknown

**Ch4. The Nature of the Unknown**

Daisuke could barely focus on anything that his teachers were saying the next day, and he had the distinct impression that the same was also true for both Tatsuya and Riko, who also seemed absent minded, Riko sketching away at the corner of her book, Tatsuya looking at the clock above Sakakibara's head, likely wishing it would speed up. They had decided that they would get together as soon as class ended to discuss what they had seen, as, it seemed, Riko also had been able to get the strange phenomenon to happen on her phone, but classes had never seemed to be that slow until that day.

"Hey, city rat!"

Daisuke instantly knew who Mr. Sakakibara meant, even before he stopped looking at the window and looked at the red face of his rage-filled teacher:

"You didn't hear anything of what I just said, did you?"

 **"** I did, sir," Daisuke lied with the most neutral expression he could.

 **"** Don't lie to me, you sack o' crap," Sakakibara's salient neck vein looked ready to burst, "If you really were paying attention, then you will have no problem telling me who purposefully used wrong kanji in his writings, will you?"

Sakakibara gave him a smug smile, correctly guessing that he had not paid attention to a single word of his tedious lecture. Daisuke looked towards Riko, but she shook her head, Tatsuya didn't even seemed to have registered that Sakakibara was yelling. Both of them would be of no help.

"Kuukai," he heard someone whisper in front of him.

"It was Kuukai," Daisuke repeated, taking any help he could get, looking at his textbook and finding the name, completing his answer, "A famous monk from the Heian-era."

"Indeed, it was Kuukai, also known as Kobo-Daishi. Seems you're not as brain dead as you seem," Sakakibara said with distaste and annoyance at their peak.

As soon as the teacher turned back to the blackboard, Daisuke looked around to thank whomever had helped him, concluding it had to be the dark haired girl in front of him, who still kept looking forward. He made a mental note to thank her after class. The bell rung a while later, signalling the end of classes, as everyone began to get off their seats and walk towards the door, once more, the relief at the postponing of Sakakibara's reign of terror for another day was obvious in the students expressions.

"Hey," Daisuke called to the girl who had been sitting in front, "Thank you."

The girl turned around. She was relatively tall and slender. Her long straight black hair fell in a fringe on her forehead. She had a pale, heart-shaped comely face, with a small mouth and large dark-grey eyes, with two small beauty marks under her left eye. She wore a blue wool cardigan underneath her school jacket, the plaid uniform skirt and long black socks, up to her thighs that emphasized her long legs. She had an air of serene beauty to her.

"Yeah, good thing you helped him out, Yamaguchi-san," Tatsuya butted in with a large grin, 'City-rat' here was lost."

"So were you," he replied with a somewhat annoyed tone.

"I really don't like how Mr. Sakakibara treats you, it's really unfair and mean," the girl said, in a low voice, looking at Daisuke, "But you shouldn't need my help. Please pay attention, ok?"

"Yeah, no problem," Daisuke gave her a friendly smile, "Thanks again."

The girl smiled back at him and nodded, picking her bag and walking out of the room, leaving only Daisuke, Tatsuya and Riko near the window, waiting a bit before they started to walk together out of the classroom, continuing along the hallway.

"Man, I really like Yamaguchi-san, she's such a sweetheart," Tatsuya said crossing his arms and sighing, before adding with a perverted smile, "Pretty too."

"Leave her alone, you creep," Riko complained adjusting her bag to her shoulder, "She already has enough on her plate without you bugging her."

"Oh come on, I didn't say anything wrong," Tatsuya put his hands on his pockets, "Stop being jealous."

"Me? Jealous?" Riko's voice rose in an instant, her face flaring up, "Now you listen here, Tatsuya Mikado!"

"Hey guys, aren't you forgetting something?" intervened Daisuke, holding Riko's shoulder, "The Dead Phone Watch?"

The two of them stopped dead in their tracks, as their brains rewired back to the previous night.

"Damn, you're right," Tatsuya admitted, lifting his right hand to his forehead, "Let's go to the roof, no one will hear us there."

Upon the other two's agreement, they began to climb the staircases, going past the seniors' third floor and up into the school's roof, surrounded by a chain linked fence, and with a few benches around, which, thankfully, were empty.

"So… What did you guys see?" asked Riko, sitting in one of the benches.

"Static at first," Tatsuya answered, "And then a silhouette. It looked like a girl."

"Same here," Daisuke nodded.

"Yeah, I saw the same thing too," the girl said, before concluding, "So we all saw it, but what does it mean?"

"Hell if I know," Tatsuya shrugged, "You're the one that is into ghost stories, shouldn't you know something?"

"Me?" Riko looked confused at him, "I've seen some weird things coming from phones in shows, but that? I don't know anything about that..."

"There is something…" Daisuke said, remembering a detail, "When I saw it last time, the silhouette was a lot fuzzier. I couldn't tell anything besides a vague human shape."

"Oh, but this time we could tell it was a girl in a uniform!" Riko recalled.

"I couldn't see her face all that well, but she had braided reddish hair," Tatsuya added, "You think if it's foggy tonight, we'll get to see her face?"

"I think so," Daisuke said, "Maybe then we'll see what's going on".

Having agreed to continue their experiment, the trio left the roof, starting to make their way down the school's floors. They were exiting the school courtyard when Daisuke heard someone call his name, and he found a girl wearing an almost complete uniform, with a red bow instead of a tie, black pantihose under her skirt and small black boots instead of the regular shoes. She had light brown wavy hair to her shoulders, held with a black hair band, and bangs over her face, just above her large brown eyes.

"You are Daisuke Ichijou, the transfer student, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's me," Daisuke replied.

"I am Satsuki Toriumi, the Student Council President," she said, placing her right hand on her chest, "I should've talked to you yesterday, but had other duties. Here," Toriumi opened her school bag and took out a pamphlet, "You have information about clubs there, and also about the Student Council. If you need anything, we're in the second floor, so pay us a visit, ok?"

"Sure, thank you, senpai," he said to her taking the pamphlet and storing it in his own bag, "I'll look into it."

"Hope you enjoy the school, Ichijou-kun," Toriumi gave him a welcoming, charming smile, before turning around and waving at him as she stepped away, "Have a good day."

Daisuke nodded, mirroring the wishes of a good day, watching Toriumi go back towards her class, where one of the girls immediately caught his attention: she wore her uniform and had reddish braided hair exactly like what he had seen the last night.

"Hey, did you see that girl?" Daisuke asked the other two.

"Of course I did, she's hot! I wish the student council president was Toriumi-senpai when I came here last year," Tatsuya complained, "I had this really strict guy almost shouting at me."

"Not her," Daisuke shook his head, "The other one."

Tatsuya and Riko both leaned forward trying to see whomever Daisuke was discretely pointing too, a surprised expression slowly showing up in both of their faces.

"Oh! You think it's her?" Riko asked, "It did look a bit like her."

"If Daisuke's theory is right, then we'll know for sure tonight," Tatsuya concluded.

Night had come, and once again, a thick fog had set into the town of Morioh. Daisuke had ended up asking his aunt if it was normal for the town to be that foggy, to which Saeko had answered saying that, being in a mountainous region, Morioh did have a lot of foggy days, but that year was undoubtedly the foggiest she could remember. Seeing as how the rumour about the Dead Phone Watch required it to be a foggy night, Daisuke had begun to wonder if there was some sort of supernatural phenomenon happening. He couldn't fully believe it, but it sure was a lot of strange things happening at the same time.

When it was just a few minutes to midnight, he turned his phone off, walking with it to the window, checking out the weather through the window finding a deep fog, before returning to his bed.

As expected, the dark screen was lit up again with static, but this time it went away much faster, not revealing a silhouette but a clear look at the girl they had seen that afternoon. They were right! It was her. But something seemed off, she seemed to be in some sort of theatre and she didn't wear her uniform, but an outfit one would see being worn by an idol on a concert. Her eyes shone in a dark gold colour.

 _"_ _Hey there!"_ the girl spoke with a strange smile, " _What's this? Finally I get the attention? Finally I get to be heard?"_

The girl twirled around, as multicoloured lights lit themselves around her as she twirled around:

 _"_ _Pay attention everyone! It's the Mayoi Yumeno show! And I'll show all of you just what I'm all about!"_

Before the girl could do whatever it was she was planning, however, the static overtook her again, and the phone went back to being black.

Hastily, Daisuke turned it back on, feeling his hands ice cold but a thousand questions burning in his mind. He was about to call Tatsuya, when a call from the other boy reached his phone:

"What the hell is going on!?" he shouted as soon as Daisuke accepted the call, "I don't even know how to describe it... She was in a stage? The Yumeno Show? What is up with that?"

"Didn't she seem off to you?" Daisuke asked, as soon as Tatsuya gave him a chance.

"Everything was off", he could hear Tatsuya sigh, "But you have a point, her eyes looked really different and that smile was really creepy".

"I have no idea what this all means, but we have to talk with Yumeno-senpai tomorrow", Daisuke said.

"I agree. Well, I'll call Riko, see ya tomorrow".

They ended the call and Daisuke threw his phone back to his bedside table, laying on the bed, at the same time feeling tired and yet incapable of sleeping with Yumeno's strange message echoing in his head. It was if, at the same time, they were getting closer to an answer and yet, the answer they were getting was just making them more confused. His sleep was an uneasy one.

Heavy rain was falling on Morioh the next morning, forcing Daisuke to take a black umbrella with him on his way back to the school. Looking distractedly at the rain, he wondered if that meant if there wasn't going to get foggy later that night, and what that might mean for the Dead Phone Watch.

"Hey! Daisuke-kun!"

Daisuke looked behind him to see Riko sprinting towards him, with her school bag over her head, passing to get under his umbrella:

"Sorry, my umbrella broke…" she explained, breathing a little heavy from the run, "You don't mind if I go with you?"

"Nah, no problem", he said, getting the umbrella between both of them and walking forward again, "You saw the Watch?"

"Of course! That was seriously messed up", Riko looked seriously ahead, "Do you think this is some kind of weird prank?"

"No", he said, "Something was wrong with Yumeno-senpai".

"Tatsuya said we should talk to her", she remembered, "I think he's right. If someone knows what's going on, it's her".

They finally reached the school and went together up the stairs towards their homeroom, finding Tatsuya looking around anxiously, briskly walking towards them as soon as he saw them:

"Hey, something's wrong?" Riko asked in a concerned tone, "Looks like you saw a ghost or something".

"Yumeno-senpai is missing", Tatsuya said, looking from one to the other, anxious for an answer.

"What!?" the other two said in unison, trading with each other surprised looks.

"Apparently her mum says she didn't come home yesterday, and people have been looking for her since last night", Tatsuya continued, "Guys, this shit, whatever it is, it's fucking real".

"Wait, hang on!" Riko asked, raising her hands, "Maybe she just got lost or something".

"No, it has to do with that", Daisuke theorized, "Last night we finally were able to see a clear picture, it even spoke. And she goes missing on the same day? There's something there".

"Daisuke's right, it can't be a coincidence", Tatsuya nodded in agreement, before crossing his arms in an uneasy stance, "But… what do we do? We saw her in some kind of stage, but… what even was that? If we go to the police they'll just ignore us, they'll think we're crazy".

"That's because it is crazy!" Riko said, almost shouting, "Would you believe it if you hadn't seen it?"

"Of course not!" Tatsuya bit his lip, "Damn it… There's nothing we can do. We just have to try to watch it again tonight and see if something shows up".

The rain continued to fall harder and harder still as the day slowly went by. If the day before they had been anxious, but mostly curious to learn about the secret of the Dead Phone Watch, that day there was actual fear in their thoughts. What had happened to Yumeno? Had she gone to the strange looking stage that was behind her in the video? She didn't look normal, it was if someone was possessing her or something of the sort.

"Hey Riko", Tatsuya called, when they were preparing to leave the school that afternoon, "Something has been bothering me… Who told you about the Dead Phone Watch?"

"Huh?" Riko looked at her friend confused, "Who told me?"

"Yeah… See, Daisuke saw it by chance, when his phone died, but you were the one that brought it up", Tatsuya lifted his right index finger while he was talking, "It's just… I want to know who started spreading the rumour in the first place".

"Oh! Yeah, that makes sense", Riko crossed her arms, lowering her head, deep in thought, "I… Don't know. I have absolutely no idea".

"You don't remember?" Daisuke insisted.

"No..." Riko shook her head, "It's like I don't even remember someone telling me, I just knew I had tell you guys about it".

"Oh man, this is getting worse and worse", Tatsuya scratched his head nervously, "Strange and unexplainable transmissions to turned off phones, disappearing girls and now we don't even know where it came from? Damn it!"

They were in low spirits leaving the school, the rain that continued to pour only worsening their collective moods, so much so that they each went directly back to their houses.

When Daisuke opened the door back into his temporary house, he found his aunt sitting at the couch in front of the lit television, turning her head when she heard him shutting the door behind him:

"You're home early, Dai-chan", his aunt gave him a friendly smile, "You didn't go out with your friends today?"

"Nah, we'd get soaked wherever we went with this rain", he fell into the couch tired, "Didn't know you had the day off".

"I do get those from time to time", Saeko smiled getting up from the couch, "Since I'm here, might as well cook something this time".

Daisuke thanked her, letting himself sink deeper into the couch, enjoying the momentary reprieve, despite his mind still constantly replaying what he had seen in his phone that night.

The jingle for the local newscast on TV caught his attention and he looked back at the screen, leaning forward when he saw the two newscasters, a clean shaven man and a woman with a bowl cut.

 _"Good night, Moriohcho, this is the evening news"_ the male anchor said, _"Tonight, we start with the disappearance of a young student in our town"._

As soon as he heard that phrase, Daisuke felt his body tense up.

 _"Eighteen year old, Mayoi Yumeno, a third year at Budoga Oka High School disappeared yesterday after being last seen leaving her school the last afternoon"._

Daisuke took his phone from his pocket, immediately sending a text to Tatsuya and Riko to warn them about the newscast, and he immediately got a reply from Riko, just as footage of Yumeno-senpai's mother being interviewed was shown, as she expressed concern, saying that her daughter had never done anything of the sort before.

" _We have to find her"_ the text came from Tatsuya when the report ended.

" _We will"_ Daisuke replied.

When, after diner, he went back up and turned his phone off to await the Dead Phone Watch, he looked through his window, seeing the rain continue to fall mercilessly. He didn't know how him, Tatsuya and Riko could do anything if they knew nothing, but he hoped that they would get an answer soon.

His alarm clock made a noise when it became midnight, and Daisuke immediately stepped through his room to find his phone, but there was nothing on there. It was as black as it had been since he turned it off.

"Damn it…" he gritted his teeth.

He started to touch the screen, trying to make something happen while he still had time, despite the screen showing no sign of registering his attempts. After he confirmed the impossibility he turned the phone back on and called Tatsuya, who confirmed that he also hadn't seen anything. As did Riko, after he called her after.

Cursing his luck in his mind, he laid back down on his bed, but his feeling that something bad was about to happen was only getting worse.

Rain had stopped the next morning, despite it raining like it was a storm during the night, when Daisuke walked out of the house the next day, besides some clouds, the sky was clear, like it hadn't rained at all. Further contributing to his theory that the town's weather was under some sort of supernatural phenomenon.

He looked at his phone to check the clock when he noticed something off about it. There seemed to be a new app installed on it, a red square with a black star over it.

 _"What is this?"_

Before he could press it, a scream cut through the air and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as a dark chill went through his spine. Almost not thinking, he ran towards where he heard the scream, finding a small crowd already there all looking to the same place, above their heads.

When Daiuske looked, he felt something tug at his heart strings: Up on power cables there was a girl tangled in them, her body and uniform was blackened by burns, but he could still distinguish her face, and her cold, dead eyes. The eyes of Mayoi Yumeno.


	5. Ch5: The One With No Name

**Ch5: The One With No Name**

The image lingered on his head, Yumeno's pale and expressionless face, staring forward unblinking. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw it again. He told Tatsuya and Riko as soon as he saw them, and got to see on their faces the same look of confusion and terror he had seen on the small crowd that had gathered around the grim spectacle, the same look he thought he himself probably had when he saw it.

The school's principal, Mr. Yoshida, called for an urgent meeting with students and staff members once the news broke out, filling out the school's large auditorium with the dreaded news that Mayoi Yumeno, their colleague that had suddenly gone missing, had been found dead. Even if the principal, thankfully, had spared the congregation the details of the macabre crime scene, a palpable sense of dread and fear could be felt among the student body.

"God damn it..." Tatsuya whispered through gritted teeth, "We could've done something."

"No, we couldn't," Riko replied, with her hands closed on top of her legs, with evident frustration, "We didn't know what was happening. We still don't know."

When the announcement ended and students were free to leave the auditorium, Daisuke could see Toriumi consoling another third year girl, with a saddened expression, clearly holding back tears herself, but keeping a strong façade to help out her friend. He felt a deep respect for her then, as she was placing her own grieving for after she could care for her fellow students, after all, such was her duty as Student Council President.

Daisuke was already making his way back home in the presence of his friends when his mind was filled with a terrifying possibility: What if this death was not an isolated incident, but just the first of many more. What if the killer, if there was one, wasn't yet satisfied? The prospect of another death shook him deeply, but also made him reinforce his desire to find the truth behind the Dead Phone Watch. It was a supernatural phenomenon that was certain. If the strange transmissions displayed on their phones wasn't proof enough, the crime scene was equally puzzling. No simple killer would go to the trouble of climbing the post and throw Yumeno's body on top of the cables, it just didn't make sense.

As he was walking next to where he had heard the screams of the horrified crowd, after he had already got separated from his classmates, he remembered about the app that had suddenly appeared on his phone. He stopped, taking his phone took his phone from his pocket. Sliding open the lock screen, he found it again: the strange app. He held his finger on it, and as he did, he noticed that the option to delete it wasn't available. Furrowing his brow, he tried to check its details, but that also wasn't possible.

The app had to be connected to the Watch. He didn't know how, but it had to be. It had suddenly appeared on his phone, it had no available information and he couldn't delete it or do anything to it that wasn't actually opening it. Whatever that was, it was somehow linked to the messages and to Yumeno's death. He hesitated briefly, thinking about what would happen if he pressed on it, before letting his curiosity get the better of him, and lowering his finger into the screen once again, this time however, to activate it:

His phone started to vibrate, the screen going pitch black for a moment, before red letters appeared:

 _"_ _s5sHad00W wWw0rlDD"_

The letters then disappeared again and a sudden burst of bright light came off the screen, blinding Daisuke, forcing him to use his free arm to shield his eyes as he attempted to look away, while his body felt strange, like he was being ripped from the spot and thrown around but not moving in the slightest. The feeling stopped and the light regressed, finally allowing Daisuke to open his eyes again. The street where he had just been was gone, he was in a completely different place: A dark alleyway extended forward and behind him seemingly without end. The floor had old and worn out gritty stones, the concrete walls seemed to be covered in some sort of dark greenish slime or humidity. The street lamps cast a strange and eerie bright red light that occasionally flickered. Looking up at the sky, it was covered in what seemed to be dark green, poisonous looking clouds, a bright yellow, larger than normal moon shone above. Worst of all however, the entire place was covered in an asphyxiating, thick red fog that made it hard to see more than a few steps ahead, while at the same time making Daisuke feel tired and nauseous.

 _"_ _Where the hell am I!?_ " he thought alarmed, looking around for some sort of clue, but finding nothing but fog. He took a look at his phone again but the screen was black again. His hands trembled as he rushed to press the button on the side to turn it on, but it was if it was completely dead. He cursed, putting it back on his pocket, taking a few steps and looking around the strange and intimidating, depressing street.

"Hey!" he called out without thinking, putting his hands around his mouth to make his voice sound farther, "Anybody out there!?"

He regretted it immediately. The drowned out sound of rustling came from in front of him, past the fog. Something was shambling around over the ground, but he could only see it after it took a few more steps forward. It was not one, but three humanoid looking creatures, who walked hunched forward, their long and thick arms almost scrapping against the pavement. Their skin was almost pitch black, were it not for red and white kanji, numbers and alphabetical letters scrolling mysteriously through it, like it was some sort of strange screen. Their raised heads had a blood red classic theatre mask on, with two large eye holes behind which bright golden eyes stared at him, unblinking.

"B-back off!" Daisuke took a step backwards, raising his arms in a defensive posture, "What the hell are you!?"

One of the creatures took off from the group, taking a longer step forward before, suddenly, springing into the air, raising its arms as it jumped, attempting to hit Daisuke, who jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding the creature who fell back to the ground, raising its neck to stare at him. It let out a strange and distorted screech and, as it did, it leaped forward again, as did its brethren, breaking into a chase.

Daisuke turned around, starting to run as fast as he could, feeling the fear creeping over him. Where was he? Was he in the same place where Yumeno had been before her death? Were those creatures the things that killed her? He found an opening on the wall to his left and quickly shifted towards it, the creatures not backing up, following behind him. Daisuke had longer legs, he could run faster, but the fog made it almost impossible for him to tell where he was going, while his chasers seemed to be completely unaffected by it.

As much as he ran, he couldn't seem to get distance between himself and the monsters who were now running like quadrupeds, closing down on him. He slid into another opening to his right, looking back to see if he had lost his pursuers, only for them to show up at the alleyway entrance, continuing their chase. Daisuke continued to run forward until he was forced to stop as he finally ran into a dead end. The narrow street where he had ran through ended in a tall brick wall that he could not even hope to climb. Upon seeing that they had him cornered, the creatures slowed down, leaning back into their hind legs, twitching and emitting more screeches.

Daisuke was panicking. He could fight humans, he knew how they moved, he knew how and when to attack and when to dodge, but those creatures, they were not human. He found a broken pipe laying by the side of his foot and rushed to grab it, picking it up and holding onto it with both hands like a sword or a bat. If those monsters wanted to kill him, he wasn't going down without a fight.

The one in the middle, the one who had attacked him before rushed towards him, leaping into the air once again. Daisuke sidestepped it, holding onto his pipe and delivering a counter attack, an horizontal swing that pushed his assailant back, making him smack into the wall. Feeling courage flare in him again, Daisuke took a step forward, going for a second deadlier blow, but the creature slithered away, making Daisuke strike the wall with his pipe, making a loud clang noise. He cursed, taking a step back, awaiting an attack, but the attack didn't come. The monster had stopped in its tracks and suddenly imploded, disappearing in a mixture of black mist and sparks, while what seemed to be glass shards fell into the ground where it stood. staring at him with their golden eyes. Confused, Daisuke looked to check the other two creatures, but both of them were also nowhere to be seen.

For a moment the only sounds audible where Daisuke's ragged breathing and his accelerated heartbeat, but then he could hear footsteps. Not the strange mixture of steps and dragging of the monsters, but actual human footsteps. A figure appeared from the fog then and Daisuke felt his jaw drop. The person that appeared from within the red fog was a tall youth with unkempt black hair and sharp dark-green eyes, he was looking at himself. The stranger didn't wear the uniform of Budoga Oka, but instead, a striped prison uniform, with chains around his bare ankles and wrists, and his eyes shone with the same golden glow that the other monsters did, but everything else about him was just like Daisuke: the height, the eyes, the hair, the build and face.

"Who… Who are you?" the question left Daisuke's lips before he could even think.

"Do you not recognize yourself?" a sharp smile appeared on the doppelgänger face, his voice sounded like Daisuke's too, "I'm you. Daisuke Ichijou."

"No, I'm me," the phrase sounded almost childish, but the shock didn't let him think. He could not believe what he was seeing.

"True, I am much more than you. I am the version of you that is real", the doppelgänger laughed, a mockery of Daisuke's own laugh, "You may pretend to be ashamed, to be so damn sorry about what you did. But I'm not. You're not. You revel in the crimes you committed."

"That's wrong!"

"Is it? Did you ever truly come to an answer about why it is you joined the gang? Why you fought?" the chains rattled as the other Daisuke paced around, "You always say that you 'don't know' why, but that's not true, is it? You loved it. You loved when the other thugs were beaten and bloody on the floor and they were looking up. Looking at you looming over them. That proved you were better. That proved you were stronger! And you bloody liked it! You loved to be strong! To be feared!"

Daisuke took a step backwards, the heavy oppressive atmosphere of the fog affecting him. No that wasn't true. It couldn't be. He hated it. He hated fighting. He only ever did it because he was bored and he was good at it. And he was wrong to do it, he could never take pride in something like that. Could he?

"Shut up, you're lying!" he finally shouted, gripping his pipe harder, "You're nothing but a fucking liar!"

"A liar? I could never lie to myself. I was strong. I am strong. I fought because it made me feel like I was the ruler of the world. I wasn't just the nice little heir that mum and dad wanted be to be, I was me for the first time since I was born. I was stronger than anybody. People finally knew that I was tough and unbreakable, and I got my respect. They knew they weren't worth shit next to me. Finally I was no longer just the boring Daisuke Icihijou, I was something more. I was me."

"No!" Daisuke shook his head, his sanity leaving him, "You're not me!"

Silence reigned for a moment and then, it was if something in the doppelgänger snapped. The creepy smile gave away to a maniacal distorted laughter as the other Daisuke was consumed by a sudden burst of dark blue and purple flames, shifting and burning ever brighter, as within it, the doppelgänger changed, becoming larger and less human. From within the flames a voice that was akin to a deeper and raspier version of Daisuke's sounded:

"I am your Shadow. Your true self".

The flames grew one last time before they were pushed away by a strong wind, forcing Daisuke to shield himself to not be pushed backwards, placing his arms in front of his face. The force subsided and he could look in front of him ahead and he could see that the doppelgänger had transformed into a new and monstrous form: It looked like a tall humanoid covered in dark grey knightly armour, with still remnants of the prison uniform's striped fabric around its chest and arms that ended in hands with large claws made of sharp glass. The restraints were still in place in its wrists and ankles and a dark blue ripped cape floated behind it. The head looked like a mockery of Daisuke's own face made of metal, with a crown made of glass on top of it. The chains around it still kept a residual dark blue fire burning.

"Become one with your Shadow!"

The Shadow opened its right hand and on it glass shards appeared out of thin air, assuming the shape of a long sword with a wide blade, the clawed fingers holding the sword's grip. Daisuke snapped out of his trance just in time to jump out of the way of the Shadow's violent guillotine-like attack. Daisuke attempted in vain to hit at the back of his doppelgänger's legs, but it turned around quickly, smacking the pipe right out of Daisuke's hand and throwing him backwards, sliding and rolling on the ground. He felt his body ache terribly, his eyes watering as his senses were overwhelmed by the fog as he tried to push himself back up. He cursed as he saw the Shadow prepare another strike: It would be over. He couldn't dodge it and any hit from that blade would kill him instantly. He was done for, his attempt at a rehabilitation would end with him dead in an alleyway in a strange place, literally murdered by his own demons.

The Shadow lunged forward and Daisuke closed his eyes, preparing for the inevitable. But the attack didn't hit. He heard the sound of glass shatter and the Shadow being pushed back. Daisuke opened his eyes again, looking forward: The Shadow was standing away from him, the sword lay in small shards of glass on the floor and walls. The Shadows eyes didn't look at him now, but at something at his feet and it was then that Daisuke noticed what had stopped the attack: _A dog...?_

A relatively small canine with short black fur around its body, a white snout and tan legs was standing on his four paws just in front of him. It had an orange kerchief around its neck and its eyes had a gold shine when it turned its head to look at him, before turning back to the monster.

"You aren't going to kill him, Shadow".

The dog spoke. Daisuke didn't know if he should be shocked by that with all of the crazy things going on in the last few minutes that were trying to kill him, but he still couldn't help but look incredulous to the mutt who had turned around to look at him with its bright golden eyes.

"I can hold him off, but only for a moment," the dog spoke again, its voice sounded boyish and very human, "We can't beat him unless you accept your Shadow".

"Accept it…?"

"I will become stronger!" the monster that used to look like Daisuke roared, "No one in this whole damn world can look down on me!"

The monster leaned forward, left hand on the ground, right hand back as it summoned the glass shards back into it, creating a new blade. The Shadow's gold eyes flared with murderous intent.

"That thing is you!" the dog said, taking a leap forward, leaning forward and taking a defensive stance, "You have to admit, in your heart, that those are your hidden feelings!"

"But they're n—"

"Go to hell!"

The monster leaped forward again and slashed through the air with the sword attempting to slice Daisuke, but the canine jumped vertically, getting in front of the sword and spinning around himself, a white flash appearing and sending both the dog and the Shadow in opposite directions. This time, the sword didn't break and the Shadow kept its footing, sliding over the cobblestone sending sparks skyward, while the dog fell to the ground with a thud, weakened, barely able to stand. Deflecting the Shadow's attack seemed to take a lot of energy. If he tried it again, he would be certainly fail.

"Whatever the hell you felt! You can become better!" the dog screamed, evidently in pain, trying to push himself back onto his feet, "You can only redeem yourself if you understand why you were wrong!"

Daisuke opened his eyes wider, the words resonating within him. Why did he feel so guilty after all? If he kept trying to tell himself that he had fought without knowing why, he was just really trying to get sympathy, pretending he was lost. No, he wasn't lost. He knew what he had done was wrong, he had accepted that, that part he couldn't hold against the Shadow. More than the "what", what had truly tormented him was the "why". He had dodged the question again and again, but deep down, he knew doppelgänger's words, had cut through him, they were truth. He fought because he wanted to be strong. Because he didn't like people to just assume he had been gifted with luck, because he wanted to prove that he was capable, and that no one could look down on him, no matter what. Even if he wanted to say that he would never do it again, those feelings of hunger for acceptance and strength were still there, and that terrified him.

"Get out of my way!"

The doppelgänger lunged again, but the dog stumbled, it couldn't jump again, it was too weak. Daisuke got back on his feet, rushing ahead, getting in front of the dog, his arms wide open willing to take the blow. The Shadow stopped immediately, falling in front of him with a loud sound, but the sword touching the ground away from them. The Shadow's golden eyes were on him, staring at him.

"You're right… I did it because I wanted to be strong. Because I wanted people to respect me," he looked away from the monster that had sprouted from his darkness, looking at the ground, "In the end, I knew what I was doing was wrong and I screwed up. But I couldn't stop. I kept thinking that I wasn't really fighting for myself. That I was doing it for someone or something else. But that's not true," he looked back up to the Shadow's eyes, "I'm scared. I'm terrified. Because in the end, what drove me to fight isn't gone. It's still here. My desire to be strong and to be respected. I'm worried that one day I may do something stupid again and disappoint the people I care about, or put them in danger..."

He smiled to himself, feeling an odd mix of sadness and anguish, but also of freedom for finally being able to come face to face with the things he was scared of in himself. He took a deep breath:

"The only way I will ever get my rehabilitation, is by accepting myself. You are me."

The creature's face, before, a twisted mockery of his own, shifted itself, in a sort of smile. The sword disappeared and the Shadow was once again eveloped, this time not by dark flames, but by a warm blue-white light that saw it shift in its form once again: It was still a humanoid in armour, but of Daisuke's real height, and leaner than its previous form, the armour of a cleaner and lighter silver, than the previous dark grey. The cape was replaced with a long and rich dark blue coat with golden accents, the only remnants of the prison uniform being stripes on the torso and under the knees. A red scarf was wrapped around its neck. On its head it wore a helm with three horns, dark blue hair coming from back of it. Underneath a bright azure shining right eye was engraved the Roman number "XIII". It still had cuffs around the wrists, but the chains were broken and floated around it.

"I am thou, thou art I," Daisuke heard his voice coming from the floating apparition, "I am Lazarus, the mask of Death, I am your sword and your shield".

As soon as it pronounced its last word, it was enveloped in the blue light again, and the body disappeared, becoming only little light particles that flew into Daisuke, before disappearing, leaving a warm sensation in his chest. _Lazarus_ , he repeated in his head, _I am thou, thou art I_.

Daisuke stumbled momentarily, feeling his tiredness come rushing back at him all at once, but then he remembered the dog, and turned around to look at it. The small canine was standing on his four legs once again, still a bit weak, but looking at him with what seemed like pride.

"You really are strong," what looked like a smile appeared on the mutt's face as it, much more expressive than a regular dog from the real world. "To be able to face up and accept your Shadow like that… You are very brave, Nameless".

"Nameless?" he asked, "I'm Daisuke Ichijou… Who are you?"

"Hum… I guess you do need a name to call me…" the dog lifted its front paw under his head, in a very human fashion, like it was stroking its chin, "You can call me Garm. Come with me, I'll explain everything"


	6. Ch6: Awaken, Magician

**Ch6: Awaken Magician**

Garm, the strange dog, led him to what apparently was a safer place. He jumped through a broken down door into a house that looked to be abandoned for decades, with cracked floorboards and chairs , an old sofa with bits and pieces ripped out and an assortment of scratches lining the walls. Even inside that building, the fog was still present, hurting Daisuke's eyes and sending a pounding sensation to his head.

"Oh yes, I forgot you humans aren't used to the Fog," Garm said, in a jovial tone, "Here."

The dog raised his right paw and a sphere of light appeared over it, mutating itself into becoming a pair of quite fashionable rectangular glasses with black frames. Daisuke kneeled in front of Garm, taking the glasses in his hands, placing them on his face, over the bridge of his nose. As soon as he put the glasses on, the fog seemed to have stopped existing. It had completely vanished from inside the house. Curious, Daisuke headed to one of the dusty windows, looking past one of the cracks on it to look at the street, where there also didn't seem to be any fog. He experimented pushing the glasses up away from his face and the fog was still there, oppressive and nauseating as always. The glasses allowed him to see right past it, but also, it seemed like they diminished its effects on him, as he felt a lot less tired and sickly as soon as he put them on.

"You like the colour?" Garm asked in a cheerful tone, clearly happy that he seemed to have enjoyed his present, "I like to make stuff like that when I'm bored. If you want I can make you another pair."

"No, these are fine, thanks a lot," Daisuke answered, continuing to experiment with raising and lowering the glasses to see how the fog seemed to vanish, "Listen, I'm really confused about this place. Where are we?"

"Well… This world is where only I and the Shadows live" Garm began walking around the room, seemingly without any specific aim, "Those creatures that were chasing you."

"What about that thing that looked like me, and that turned into the monster… That was a Shadow too?"

"Yes, but a bit different. Shadows are born from humans' repressed emotions and memories. When you entered this world, your Shadow became so strong that it took your form and tried to kill you," Garm looked at him with a serious look, "When you, in your heart, accepted your darker half, the Shadow disappeared and in its place, you got the power to defeat other Shadows: a Stand or a Persona."

"Lazarus," Daisuke said and Garm nodded. He sat down, trying to dispel some of his tiredness, "Oh yeah, what was that thing about calling me 'Nameless'?"

"Oh. Well that is your arcana," Garm answered in a tone that was so matter of fact that confused Daisuke even more, "Stand users like you are specifically aligned with one of the twenty-two major arcana. Yours is the thirteenth. In some decks, it has no name, it's 'Nameless'. In others, it's called 'Death'."

"Wait, so I'm 'Death'…?" he raised an eyebrow. It felt like he was having the fever dream to end all fever dreams, "What does that even mean?"

"Don't think about it for now, just know you have a very strong and special power."

"Ah… OK then," just then something came back to his mind, "Hey… Did a girl called Mayoi Yumeno enter this place?"

"Not like you," Garm shook his head, "You entered here by yourself. The girl was forced here. I couldn't find her, but I knew someone threw her here. Her Shadow got to her first."

"Someone pushed her here?"

"Didn't I just tell you that? Yes. To be honest, I thought maybe you were that person. I felt two presences that day, and when I felt yours, I thought you were the killer coming back to check his work. When I found you, though, I knew you had just wandered here by accident."

Daisuke nodded consistently while hearing the dog talk. In the back of his mind, he couldn't stop thinking about how weird that might look. He kept thinking he was having some crazy hallucinations, but he had pinched his arm several times, and he felt the pain every time. For as strange as it was, it was real, all of it. With that settled, he finally had some answers. Yumeno's death was caused by a supernatural phenomenon, but only because someone had directly intervened. While her Shadow was the one who dealt the killing blow, whomever had locked her in that world was the real culprit, the real killer.

"I'll find him," Daisuke said, with an intensity behind his words to prove he meant them.

"I'll be thankful if you do," Garm smiled, wiggling his tail, "The Shadows have been restless ever since he showed up here. I fear for my safety. You could see that if you weren't so quick to accept your Shadow, I would have been killed."

"I'll help out anyway I can," he promised, "I didn't really know senpai, but if I really want to redeem myself, I can't let a killer go on the loose to do as he pleases."

Garm nodded in agreement but, right afterwards he jumped onto his feet, his ears perking up while he sniffed the air around him:

"There's someone else here"

"Someone else? The killer?" Daisuke asked, getting up at the same time.

"Follow me!"

As soon as he said it, Garm sprinted out of the house, forcing Daisuke to run after him, running as fast as he could, trying his best to keep up with the canine. Leaving the house, he could finally get to see what was around him with the pair of glasses that Garm had gifted him letting him see past the fog: he was in a town with approximately the same layout as Morioh, but the houses all looked old and dark, ominous red light came from the street lamps, while the air was heavy and harder to breathe, like they were a lot higher in the mountains than the normal town.

"Shadows!"

Garm's sudden cry of warning caught him off guard, almost making him trip when he saw the small group of creatures that were now ahead of him, three of them, almost identical to the three that had chased him before. Upon seeing the two of them, the Shadows screeched and turned to face them.

"Nameless, unleash your power!" Garm said, jumping back next to him, "Your Stand can smash past these weaklings".

Daisuke nodded, holding his hand up to his face and closing his eyes, breathing in, feeling power creeping over him. A blue aura crept over him, and as he closed his hand as he opened his eyes again, the aura shot out of him like a canon blast:

 _"_ _Lazarus!"_

From within him, the knight-looking ghost appeared, in its right hand conjuring a sword made of bright glass, shining as it reflected the large moon. It glided at an incredible speed forward, slashing through the right most Shadow with power and agility, obliterating it like it wasn't even there. Only black smoke remaining of the creature, once Lazarus stood back up.

"Yeah! Here we go!" Garm cheered excitedly, "Looking cool, Nameless!"

"Ohryaaa!" the deep voice of the Stand roared as it glided backwards to dodge an attack and dealt a fierce blow with his sword, so violent it broke into several smaller shards amidst the black smoking remains of the Shadow it killed. The remaining Shadow took several steps behind it, although the mask hid its face, it was certainly intimidated. However, as it realized the sword had been broken, it lunged, trying to take advantage

The shards of glass flew together back into Lazarus's hands, becoming sharper, deadly claws with which it caught the Shadow, slashing at it ferociously, its speed unmatched by any sort of common Shadow.

"Watch out!"

Daisuke turned around quickly to see a fourth Shadow that he had not seen before jump out from the darkness trying to attack him from behind by leaping at him and swinging its monstrous arms.

"Go down!" he said as Lazarus's glass claws became throwing daggers that flew right past his head, piercing through the creature, creating large holes in it until the fabric of its existence gave out and it became a black mist as its brethren had. If he ever needed proof of his Stand's abilities, he had them.

Daisuke felt like somewhat of a dork by doing it, but he couldn't resist to use his hand to adjust his glasses, like some sort of manga hero, once Lazarus returned to him.

"You really are a natural at this, huh?" Garm jumped to his shoulder, almost making him fall with the sudden weight, "I actually kind of think you can catch the killer now."

"The killer!" He had forgotten why they were running in the first place, "The presence you felt, is it still here?"

Garm nodded, jumping back onto the ground and running ahead once more, going two streets over, as they left the more recognisable town centre and into what seemed to be a destroyed and ruinous version of the Shopping District. The street still kept going up, but the stores lining it were as wrecked and ransacked as the houses they had seen before. Daisuke couldn't help but wonder if that was just how that place had always been, or if the destruction was caused by something.

"There!"

Daisuke looked ahead and he saw someone running away, being chased by what seemed to two giant flying balls. A closer look however, revealed them to be Shadows, with the same black skin with scrolling text, but with a large mouth with sharp teeth and a large purple tongue underneath a theatre mask of the same colour. It wasn't the different species of Shadow that surprised Daisuke, however but the person running away from them: Tatsuya.

"Lazarus!"

Daisuke ran ahead, passing right by Tatsuya, his Stand leaving his body once again, a new sharp glass sword appearing in its hands as it slashed the first of the two spherical Shadows, using the dark creature's own momentum, almost letting it push itself into the sword as it was ripped in two, fading away into smoke. Daisuke reached for the second one, throwing more glass sword swings but the Shadow rolled away from a second and third strike, its agility matching Lazarus's own speed. He had to change his strategy: Pulling back, he broke his blade, repurposing the shards as ranged weapons, sending them one after the other after the spherical monster. Lazarus's glass knives hit their mark after the first two misses, piercing the Shadow, cutting the tongue out, it rotting away in the same dark mist as the rest of the body.

As he felt his Stand return to him, Daisuke wondered what Lazarus's weakness might be, as he seemed to excel in strength, speed and precision. Maybe the fact that it was a more of physical brawler could lead to it being overwhelmed by a large number of foes. Still, like Garm said, most regular Shadows didn't seem to be a challenge to him.

"What the hell was that!?"

Daisuke had almost forgotten about Tatsuya, only remembering him when he heard his loud shout, turning to look at his confused and panting friend.

"What were those things? And who... Wait, Daisuke!?"

"You entered the world of the Shadows, you are on the other side," Garm explained, walking up to Daisuke's side looking up at Tatsuya.

"Did…Did that dog just talk to me!?" the blond boy laughed nervously. "Dude, I don't remember taking any drugs, but this is one far out dream".

"A dream? I'm not that stupid."

A voice that sounded like Tatsuya's, if not more nasal, came from the end of the street from where another young man walked. Daisuke tensed up identifying it as Tatsuya's Shadow. Like Daisuke's, Shadow Tatsuya looked exactly like him, with the hair dyed blonde, the thin nose, but for the golden eyes. Unlike the prison uniform that Daisuke's Shadow had worn, however, Shadow Tatsuya wore what Daisuke assumed to be Budoga Oka's volleyball team uniform, with grey blue shorts and shirt with white details, like the school's name on the chest and the number "1" with a horizontal line underneath representing captain status. Over the uniform, it wore a rich red cape with black and white fur trimming. On top of his head was a crown made of golden an red velvet. Its smile was similar to Tatsuya's own cocky smile, but a whole lot more twisted and mean.

"What the hell!? Why do you look like me!?" Tatsuya's fear and confusion were evident in his voice.

"Because I am you, you idiot," Shadow Tatsuya made a large wolf-like smile, "The lord of this damn dump of a town. The only one with some sort of brain around here. Everyone should be acknowledging me."

"What are you saying?" Tatsuya gritted his teeth, "That's not true, I don't think like that! You're just a lousy fake!"

"Tatsuya, you have to accept it," Daisuke called out, grabbing his friend's shoulder trying to make him face him, but Tatsuya didn't move, "If you don't—"

"Oh! There he is, Lord Ichijou! Even here trying to steal my thunder!" Tatsuya's Shadow moved its arms dramatically, adjusting his red cape, "As soon as people started to understand how better I, an educated man from the Big City, am, here comes this edgy looking asshole and suddenly he's the centre of attention and all he wants to do is upstage me!"

"Shut the hell up!" Tatsuya replied as loud as he could.

"Saving Yumeno and catching her killer? Fuck that, I just want people to look up to me like I'm the bravest hero!" the Shadow chuckled, "I want love, fame and fortune, and I won't let anyone steal them from me!"

"Damn it, shut up! You're a dirty liar!" Tatsuya took a strong step forward, "You're not me!"

The Shadow chuckled as its body burned up within the dark flames of its transformation. His form shifted within the fire, spinning and stretching until the blue and purple flames were dispelled revealing the Shadow's new form: It became a large humanoid, in a black suit filled with zippers and peculiar gold shining rings that levitated on its robotic looking arms and legs. A red cape floated behind it, and its face was obscured by what seemed to be an astronaut's helmet, with the visor filled by a wall of nonsensical text like what appeared on smaller Shadow's bodies.

"Let's play then, shall we?" Shadow Tatsuya chuckled in a distorted voice, flailing its arms around in an unnatural way.

"Stay back!" Daisuke shouted, stepping in front of his friend that had frozen in fear.

With a scream, Tatsuya's Shadow opened its arms wide and dark and purple energy appeared on its hands, joining them together to produce an even wider ball of energy that kept expanding, and producing what seemed to be a violent gravitational pole, throwing Daisuke off the floor making him float in the air, getting sucked in.

"Lazarus!" he cried out, summoning his stand that hardened its glass claws, striking the ground to try and stop the momentum.

"Nameless, watch out!"

He looked back where he had been to see Tatsuya and Garm desperately trying to hang on before also being sent flying towards him. Tatsuya's Shadow gravitational surge was pulling them all together towards it.

"Get over here already!" the Shadow laughed maniacally.

"Fine! You want it, you got it!"

Lazarus let go, shifting around to be in front of Tatsuya, sending its glass claws as glass shards towards the Shadow catching it by surprise, making it just barely stop its gravity altering attack, having it side step.

Sensing an opportunity, Daisuke managed to steady himself, taking a single step on the ground before leaping into an attack, Lazarus conjuring a glass sword, hitting the Shadow's robotic arms, making a deep cut into them as it tried to block.

He tried to make a follow up attack but taking a step back, the Shadow made the reverse movement from before, generating another dark purple ball of energy, but this one, with the opposite effect, sending a powerful shockwave that sent Daisuke and the others behind him, flying backwards, rolling through the ground.

"Damn it…" Daisuke cursed trying to get back up, touching his left arm where he imagined bruises were. He looked back at Tatsuya, laying on the ground looking defeated, "Get up! What are you doing laying down there? Are you just going to give up!?"

"What do you want me to do!?" Tatsuya struggled to push himself up unto his feet, "I'm not strong like you!"

"Yes you are!" Daisuke summoned Lazarus again, making his Stand create a new salvo of glass claws, in case the Shadow tried to pull him in again, "You just have to accept your flaws! Until you can respect yourself, you won't get others to respect you!"

"Stop trying to make yourself look cool, you bastard!" the Shadow screamed closing in, rearing one if its arms back, prepping an attack, "After I kill you, I'll finally be number one!"

Lazarus created a glass spear, trying to outrange his opponent, throwing it forward, forcing the Shadow to send his gravity blast early to deflect it, allowing Daisuke to get close, jumping forward, his stand ahead of him, right arm extended, gripping into his opponent's neck and violently slamming it down.

Daisuke pressed his advantage immediately, summoning one more glass sword, and preparing to go for the kill. It would be like a regular Shadow.

"Wait!"

He looked behind him, seeing Tatsuya walk beside him, visibly still shaken from the fall, but his expression seemed to be cleared of doubts and filled with what seemed pity, as he looked to the Shadow version of himself.

"You really messed with my head, you know that?" Tatsuya gave a weak smile, "Saying all that shit, I just wasn't ready to hear someone expose me like that. It's true. I am like that. I am just this super egocentric asshat", he turned his head to look at Daisuke, "Even when you were helping me, I still couldn't admit how envious I was of you. Hell of anybody. I just want people to think I'm a hero".

He held his hand out towards the monster:

"As much as I hate to admit it: you're me".

A warm blue-white light appeared around the Shadow, dimming slowly revealing its true form, a Stand: It was leaner than it had been originally, but it had a much more mechanical appearance. It kept he same shining gold rings on its arms and legs. The head looked almost human, with copper eyes on a dark grey face and golden short hair, held with an orange cloth that wrapped around to its neck and lower face, while yellow earphones were placed over. Various star shapes were placed around its body, and on its chest, it seemed to have a core with constant energy buzzing.

"I am thou, thou art I", the Stand said, "I am Starsailor, the mask of the Magician. I am your sword and your shield".


	7. Ch7: A Bond Reforged

**Ch7: A Bond Reforged**

They had moved to a small alley that ended in a brick wall, away from the main streets where the chances of running into Shadows was that much higher.

Even if his new glasses made it seem like the fog was much less dense then it really was, its physically and mentally draining effects were still felt, as he was starting to feel nauseous as well as extremely tired, and the same was not only true but also multiplied for Tatsuya, that had awakened to his Stand just a few minutes before and didn't have the protective glasses he had.

One question after the other, Tatsuya asked them about where they were, about what were the monsters that had attacked them, what was the doppelganger that talked like he knew his deepest and darkest thoughts and why had it turned into a monster and later, once he had accepted it as part of him, it had returned back to him. Daisuke found himself talking about Stands and Shadows as if he knew about them for years when in reality he had only known for a few hours more than his friend and was essentially repeating what Garm had told him before.

Eventually, Tatsuya ended up remembering about what had driven them to that world in the first place: the mysterious disappearance and killing of Mayoi Yumeno, and Garm took it upon himself to explain him what happened when someone was killed by their own Shadow and, also, how he had felt more than one presence when Yumeno had become trapped in that place.

"So whoever threw her in is the one responsible for her death", Tatsuya concluded, "To think a murderer is hiding in such a small town... It's insane…"

"We don't know anything about the killer, but I'm sure he won't quit after just one victim. No, I'm sure he will kill again unless we stop him", Daisuke said grimly, "With Stands we can fight Shadows. If he throws someone else, I'll save them'.

"You won't do it alone", Tatsuya smiled, an honest smile, but a tired one as well, "I'm scared as shit, but I can't let a bastard like that keep doing what he wants. I have Starsailor now, I can't let this power go to waste. I'm with you".

"Well, guess you are now an official part of the team then", Garm was now holding a pair of glasses on his paw, the same shape as Daisuke's, but with yellow rims, "Welcome to the team, Magician".

"Wow, there's codenames too?" Tatsuya laughed sheepishly, grabbing the glasses and placing them on his face, "Hot damn! It's like the fog doesn't exist anymore. I was wondering why you were wearing glasses, Daisuke. Thanks, doggo".

"That's Garm to you!" the dog held his head in a proud manner.

"Hey Garm, one thing", Daisuke interrupted, "How do we leave?"

"Oh", he opened his mouth like he had not even thought about it, "You should be able the leave the same way you came here".

Daisuke took his phone from his pocket once more, seeing the screen black as it had been since he had entered that place. He looked at Tatsuya and he too seemed to have his phone in the same situation.

"Wait, hang on", Garm leapt back into Daisuke's shoulder with swiftness but still almost throwing him to the ground, before he valiantly held his footing " Lemme touch the screens real quick".

Daisuke did as told, rising his phone up to his left shoulder where Garm put his paw forward, touching it and making a spark spread through it, making a red clock appear on the screen, as well as the same red square with a black star in the middle.

Garm jumped from Daisuke's shoulder to Tatsuya's catching the blond boy by surprise, knocking him to the ground before he could touch the screen of the other phone, having the same effect as it did on Daisuke's.

"You can come back the same way as you entered this time", he said, distractedly scratching his side with his hind leg "Just make sure when you do, you two are together or you may end up far away from each other".

"We'll be back", Daisuke promised.

Garm nodded, and Tatsuya exchanged a quick look with Daisuke before they each pressed the square on their phones, making a white light come from the screen as it had before, bright enough to make them cover their eyes. When the light subsided, the fog covered red ruins of the town were gone and they were back in Morioh, precisely in an alleyway between Owson, a convenience store, and a block of houses. Daisuke was unsure of how long they had been gone until he looked at his phone and saw they had been away for only a few hours, yet the sky was already completely dark and the street lights were lit.

"Either I had the weirdest dream ever, or that was real" Tatsuya said after a brief moment of silence when the two of them walked back onto the main shopping district, "I mean… I didn't dream it right?"

"You weren't wearing those glasses before", Daisuke responded as he took his own pair of black rimmed glasses that Garm has gifted him, noticing that they didn't get dirty even if he touched the lenses and placing them on the pocket of his jacket.

"Oh yeah, you're right", Tatsuya took his own glasses off, looking at his phone after it, "The app is still here. So that means if we press it we can go back to see Garm again", Tatsuya stored his phone away, looking at the ground in thought for a few moments before looking up at Daisuke once more, "We'll catch the bastard".

Daisuke nodded, sticking his hand forward to shake hands with Tatsuya, as if to make their new partnership official. They said goodbye for the day then, remembering how late it was and how their families might be starting to be worried about them, going in different directions.

The door was locked when Daisuke got home, Saeko still hadn't come off her shift. He smiled, thanking his good luck, if she knew how late he was, she might have assumed he had been out on town fighting or doing something illegal.

As soon as he reached his room, he let himself fall on top of his bed, dead tired, falling asleep almost immediately.

When the alarm had rung the next morning he almost threw his phone at the wall, yet still he woke up, realizing with annoyance that despite his long sleep, he still felt tired. He briefly wondered if he had dreamt the entirety of the previous day, but he could see some bruises on his body from the fights, and the pair of glasses that strange dog had gifted him were still on the pocket of his uniform.

The sky was cloudy when he was walking along back to the school after leaving the house, making him wonder if the fog would appear at night, prompting another Dead Watch.

He arrived at school, finding Riko by the door to the classroom talking with the black-haired girl that had helped him during the other lesson, with no sign of Tatsuya who, Daisuke assumed, would probably be as tired as he was.

"Mornin', Daisuke" Riko said in a cheerful tone when she saw him, "You alright? You look beat".

"Couldn't really get much sleep tonight" he answered, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, you should really be careful", Yamaguchi said with what seemed to be a concerned tone, "Not getting enough sleep can really be harmful for your health".

"Geez, Yukino, you don't need to exaggerate", Riko gave a small chuckle, "I'm sure he's fine".

"Hey, mornin'".

Tatsuya arrived just then, raising his right hand to try and hide a large yawn. Looking at him, it was obvious he was also extremely tired.

"You too?" Riko shook her head, "Where you two out last night or something?"

"Huh? Us two?" Tatsuya gave a quick glimpse to Daisuke by his side, "Oh. Nah, I was up studying, dunno about him".

"I'm surprised to hear that, Mikado-kun", Yamaguchi said, her tone made her sound a lot more honest than her words, "You normally don't have very good grades, so I didn't expect you to study that hard".

"Huh?" Tatsuya gave her an annoyed look, "I'm trying my best alright, Yamaguchi-san? Not everybody can have your luck and be born rich and smart, kay?"

Yamaguchi seemed to be bothered by the comment, like she wasn't trying to provoke or be mean to him, being caught off guard by the other boy's annoyance. Riko diffused the potential situation just in time for class, but as Daisuke took his seat beside Riko, he glanced casually at the dark-haired girl: She seemed to be polite and smart, and yet, there was some awkwardness to her speech, like she was trying to be more reserved than she would've liked.

When the end of class bell rang and they left the classroom, Tatsuya immediately approached him, telling Riko they would be going to the bathroom, leaving her with Yamaguchi, while the two boys, walked in the opposite direction:

"I suppose you really didn't need me to come with you to the bathroom", Daisuke said, looking over his shoulder.

"Of course not, I wanna talk about yesterday" Tatsuya looked nervously around him, "So… I didn't imagine any of that right? I wasn't tripping or something, right? The Shadows, the dog, our Stands, the whole thing: it's real, yeah?"

"Yeah", Daisuke nodded, pulling his glasses from his pocket, showing them to his friend.

"Great, I have mine here too", the blond took his hand to his pocket to show his own pair of yellow-rimmed glasses, "So… When are we going back there?"

"We shouldn't just keep going there every day, that's too dangerous. You're seeing how tired we are after going there once", Daisuke took out his phone, looking at the mysterious app that took them to the Shadow World, "It should be foggy tonight. We should check to see if there's anything on the Watch. If there is, tomorrow we'll go report to Garm".

"Mmkay, seems fine by me", Tatsuya beamed, "But man, we can be real lifesavers! Actual superheroes! You looked so cool fighting those things, I really need to start training, I'm sure Starsailor can whoop some major ass too".

"Hey, captain!"

A boy came up to the two of them suddenly. He was shorter than Tatsuya, with really short dark hair and was wearing the school's PE uniform, a dark-blue tracksuit with white stripes on the shoulders.

"Matsuda, hey", Tatsuya greeted the underclassman, before introducing him, "Daisuke, this is Kozume Matsuda, he's our first year libero" he then placed his hand on his taller friend's shoulder, "This is Daisuke Ichijou, he'll be our new middle blocker."

"I'm gonna be what now?" Daisuke raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, partner", Tatsuya gave him a friendly pat on the back, "With how tall you are, you'll block stuff without even trying. We're going to nationals, baby!".

"Hum… about that, Mikado-senpai" Matsuda looked down, avoiding Tatsuya's inquisitive gaze, "Coach Fukunaba isn't coming back this year".

"What!?" Tatsuya's sudden shout caught a few passerby by surprise, making some of them visibly jump, "What do you mean 'Coach isn't coming back'?"

"He didn't give us PE today, seems he injured his back and won't be able to teach for a while, so we'll get a substitute", Matsuda had taken a step back, "The volleyball team advisor is Mr. Sakakibara now".

"Sakakibara!?" if the last question had been loud, this one had caught even Daisuke by surprise, "He doesn't know shit about volleyball! Hell, he probably won't even let us play in the regional tournament! This is bullshit!"

"Shut your trap, Mikado".

The unpleasant voice and tone was unmistakable, Sakakibara walked up to the three of them on the corridor, as a small crowd had started to gather around them, trying to figure out where the shouting was coming from.

"So what about your damn club? You never made it to nationals before, why should we keep spending our money on your lazy asses", Sakakibara's smile carried poison, "Maybe you should actually spend your time studying every once in a while".

"You bastard!" Tatsuya was fuming, taking a step forward before Daisuke and Matsuda both hurried to grab him, and keep him from doing anything.

"Insulting and trying to intimidate a teacher, eh? Well, I hope you enjoy detention. You're also banned from club activities and I'm removing your place as captain".

Tatsuya managed to shake off Matsuda, but Daisuke held him harder, stopping him from just going and punching the teacher in the face. He wanted to let his friend go, hell, he himself would punch Sakakibara if he could, but that would turn an already terrible situation in a disastrous one.

"I see you city boys keep together, how nice", Sakakibara grunted, seemingly disappointed they had not attacked him and given him a pretence for expelling them, "You better behave now, Mikado, or I'll make sure you're expelled".

Sakakibara turned his back on them, walking back to where he was, dispersing the crowd of onlookers as he did, among them, Daisuke could see Riko who instantly walked towards them:

"That bastard…" Tatsuya repeated under his breath, shaking with rage, wrangling to free himself from Daisuke, who let him go.

"Hey… You ok?" Riko asked, when he seemed to have calmed down a bit.

"I'm fine", the lie was obvious, but none of them pointed it out, letting him take a deep breath and turn towards Matsuda, "Well, I'll leave it to you guys. Mayuzumi is probably gonna do fine as captain, if he's the one that asshole picks".

"Even without a coach, we'll try our best to gather money to play the prelims", Matsuda gave him a confident nod, "We'll win it for you, captain".

Tatsuya gave his underclassman a thankful smile, wishing him luck and watching him go back through the hallway. Tatsuya scratched his head, looking at the floor before looking at both Daisuke and Riko:

"Well, we have a class now, right?"

Daisuke and Riko traded a concerned look, but they said nothing, deciding to give their friend space to let him breathe and sort out his thoughts.

The fog had set in when Daisuke had returned home, oddly enough, feeling less tired than he had been that morning. Saeko had actually cooked dinner instead of bringing take out, as she had managed to leave work early. Despite her admission that she was a "decent cook", Daisuke actually felt his aunt's food was far better than the one made by some professional chefs.

"How's the food?" Saeko asked, smiling as she saw how eagerly he ate.

"Great", he replied, "You're a great cook, aunt Saeko".

"Haha, I'm not all that", she started to lift the dirty plates as they both finished eating, "If you want, I can teach you. Girls like it when a boy can cook, you know?"

Daisuke agreed on the offer but his attention was shifted elsewhere when he felt his phone rumble on his pocket:

 _"_ _Its foggy. The dpw is gonna be one 2nite. ill call you after k?"_

He quickly wrote a reply to Tatsuya's text agreeing to it, even though he didn't need a reminder. He was well aware of the Watch. He couldn't decide if he wanted someone to appear or not however. If someone did, it meant the Killer was at it again, however, it also meant that he had kept to his MO and, as such, they may have a chance at stopping him.

Although after diner he had opened his books to study, he couldn't truly focus, continuously looking at the clock to see how much time was left before midnight. He had received a text from Riko worrying about Tatsuya and his ban from club activities, saying he wasn't replying to her texts, for which Daisuke assumed he had already turned his phone off to await the Watch. Daisuke replied telling her that he probably just had no battery and still hadn't noticed and that he should be fine. After she replied to him one last time, wishing him good night, he turned his phone off and took it with him to bed, as the final minutes to midnight passed.

As the clock on his desk showed "00:00" the strange static appeared on the screen, slowly becoming clearer and making a silhouette appear on it. It appeared to be a woman again and, just like last time, she wore Budoga's uniform, but while her face wasn't visible, her long black hair was. Just as he was realising he had seen her before, the screen went back to black and the transmission ended.

He hurried to turn his phone on again, his mind racing, a call from Tatsuya arriving almost immediately.

 _"_ _Dude! That's Yukino!"_ Tatsuya said through the line, _"I'm like ninety-nine percent sure that's Yamaguchi"._

"Yeah, it definitely looked familiar", he agreed, nodding to himself.

 _"_ _Oh man, this is bad... Was she taken already!?"_

"No, she wasn't", he replied, confident in his answer, "Yumeno-senpai only disappeared when we could see and hear her clearly. Yamaguchi is probably still safe".

" _Hum... We need to talk to her tomorrow. And then we go and talk with the doggo"._

Agreeing on a plan. They ended their conversation. Yukino Yamaguchi was the killer's next target, but they wouldn't let him harm her. They'd stop him.


	8. Ch8: Storming Strength

**Ch8: Storming Strength**

When they went to class the next day, Yamaguchi was still there, as if the Watch didn't seem to have had any effect on her, at least, not yet. Even if they hadn't talked to Yumeno, she also didn't seem to have anything wrong with her when they had seen her the day before she disappeared.

Daisuke noticed that Tatsuya was sneaking quick glances at Yamaguchi from time to time, but either she simply didn't notice them or just wasn't bothered by them. Once class ended, Tatsuya made sure to take Riko away with him, trying to get her out of the way so Daisuke could try and talk to Yamaguchi. They had decided that they wouldn't tell Riko about the other world, at least, not for now. Even if she also knew about the Watch and had seen it, they didn't want to put her in danger needlessly.

"Hey, Yamaguchi-san," Daisuke called when she started to move to the door, "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Huh? Me?" the girl seemed flustered, like it was rare for people to approach her, "Why?"

"I just want to ask you something, it's quick, don't worry."

"Ah... sure, I guess."

He followed her outside, taking a look to check where Tatsuya and Riko were going while he and Yamaguchi went the opposite direction, the girl stopping and turning towards him next to the door to the Music Room.

"So…" She didn't seem to like keep eye contact, often avoiding meeting his gaze, "What do you want to ask me?"

"Huh... Have you seen anything strange lately?" He asked, not sure of what he should say even if he had repeated that conversation in his mind at least half a dozen times.

"Strange?" She repeated.

"Yeah, like..." He thought for a bit, trying to think something up on the spot before finally, after a bit of an awkward moment an idea popping into his mind, "Ah… Your parents own LuckyLand, right?"

"Ah... y-yeah," her reaction made it look like she was embarrassed of that fact, or maybe ashamed, "Why do you ask? What do you want, Ichijou-kun?"

"Well, my parents own the Ichijou Fruit Parlour, they send shipments to LuckyLand," he didn't really know if they did, but it wasn't too much of a stretch to assume so, "They told me someone was allegedly messing with their shipments and they weren't getting to your shop. I just wanted to know if you knew anything."

"Oh, well ah... I don't really know," she seemed a lot more uncomfortable ever since he had mentioned the shopping centre, "I just focus on my studies, so I don't really know anything about the store... I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's alright," he lightly shook his head, "Just be on the lookout, ok? After what happened to senpai, we should all be careful, right?"

Yamaguchi gave him another look that fell somewhere between confused and worried, before they went their separate ways with awkward goodbyes. Daisuke cursed his terrible attempt at a conversation in his mind as he walked outside. At best, Yamaguchi was on the lookout, even if she had no idea for what. At worst, she thought Daisuke was a lunatic. As he left the school, he found Tatsuya waiting for him at the gate:

"So, how did it go?" The blond asked, taking his hands out of his trouser pockets and stepping away from the wall.

"Terrible," he answered, exasperated, "But I guess she hasn't seen anything weird… Besides me, of course. I told her to be careful, though."

"Sheesh, and here I thought you'd actually do something," he shook his head, even if it was clear from his tone that he wasn't expecting good results, "Oh yeah, Riko saw the Watch. She also thinks it's Yukino."

"You told her anything?"

"Course not. But I think she suspects we know more than we're letting on," he sighed, "I guess if she just warns Yamaguchi, it probably won't be bad. They're friends, Yukino will trust Riko. Probably."

"We should get moving then," Daisuke said, taking a quick look around, "Let's go back to where we were last time, we should be able to find Garm quickly if we go there."

Tatsuya agreed and they went on their way to the place where they had exited the Shadow World last time, the small alley between the Owson store and the small row of houses. The whole way they walked there, Daisuke was under the impression that they were being followed, but when he looked behind him he never found anything out of the ordinary, and yet that lingering sensation didn't seem to leave him.

"Ok, we just have to press this app thing right?" Tatsuya asked once they reached the alley.

"Yeah," Daisuke took his glasses from his pocket, placing them on his face, "Ready."

Tatsuya nodded, placing his own glasses on his face and making a quick countdown to 3 before he pressed on the app. Just as soon as he had pressed it, Daisuke saw someone move in from behind Tatsuya, but before he could do anything, the app's flash of light blinded him as it pulled him into the Shadow World.

When the light stopped, they were back where they had been two days before: a dark and ominously lit alleyway, with the strange and oppressive red fog around them. It was then he saw who had followed them: Looking completely lost and terrified was Riko.

"Wh-what the hell is this place!?" She asked loudly, making Tatsuya, who hadn't yet seen her, jump, "What is going on?"

"How the hell did you get here?" Tatsuya asked, turning around to face her.

"I don't know!" She shouted back him, "You two were acting really weird so I followed you. I have no idea what happened!"

"You shouldn't have followed us!" Tatsuya said back, almost louder than her, "This place is dangerous!"

"Shut up!" Daisuke intervened, his voice only louder than a whisper, but with the same intensity as if he had shouted, "The Shadows will hear us."

"The Shadows?" Riko asked even more confused, but controlling her volume better, "What are those?"

Tatsuya raised his right arm, pointing forward:

"Those things".

As if on command, a small mob of five Shadows rushed to their position, three of them where of the hunched over quadruped variety that had attacked Daisuke when he had first arrived there and the other two of them were the spherical ones with the large mouth that had rushed Tatsuya. Riko had frozen in shock, but the other two stepped in front of her:

"Laz-!"

"Wait," Tatsuya grabbed his friends arm, stopping him, "I think I can stop them".

Daisuke nodded, understanding Tatsuya's intention and letting him step in front, holding his hand up, a dark blue light appearing around him:

"Let's go, Starsailor!"

His stand appeared on call, the orange scarf floating behind its robotic body as it spun in the air with its arms wide open, making dark purple energy orbs appear on its hands, joining into a large orb when the stand pointed its hands forward, sending the sphere ahead stopping it in front of the charging mod:

"Now!"

The energy sphere sent out a pulse, like a wave of energy, catching the five Shadows and pulling them all towards the centre of the sphere with its own gravitational force, making the creatures crash violently into each other, producing a loud impact.

"Lazarus!"

The knight in the dark-blue coat appeared once again amidst the aura of indigo fire, forming a large halberd of the sharpest glass in its hands, charging forward with speed and deadly intention.

"Ravage them!" Daisuke called, clenching his fist.

Lazarus spun fast around itself, holding its weapon in both hands, dealing a devastating diagonal strike cutting past the Shadows when they were at their closest, eliminating all five in a single strike, leaving only a large puff of smoke and electrical sparks where they once had been. The pulse disappeared, as Lazarus dropped the halberd, disappearing in the fire of soul.

"Wooohoo, baby!" Tatsuya cheered, high-fiving Daisuke, "That's some top class teamwork right there!"

"Will you two please explain what the hell is going on!?"

They both turned around, to look at Riko who looked completely lost. Before they could say anything however, from the end of the street they saw a familiar figure, Garm, who walked towards them:

"Ah, I could swear I heard your voices", the dog called in a jovial tone, before looking at Riko with a confused expression, "Huh? Who's that?"

"You're a dog," she said, her mind clearly trying to process all of the crazy things she had seen in the last few minutes, "And you're talking."

"He's Garm," Tatsuya said pointing to the canine, "And that's our friend Riko Kida, she followed us here."

"Nice to meet you," Garm said in a cheerful tone.

"The dog is talking to me", she mumbled, looking to Daisuke and Tatsuya "You two just sent ghosts to fight the monsters. Ok, I'm dreaming. I'm just having a really weird dream. I'm gonna wake up any minute now."

Tatsuya and Daisuke traded looks with each other and with Garm, trying to figure out how to explain their situation. Eventually they started to give their best account possible about where they were, about how their Stands worked, what Shadows were and what they had learned about Yumeno's death, and how they had come to check on if Yamaguchi's appearance on the Watch had already had an impact on the other world. Riko kept insisting that she was having a very strange dream, but as time went on, she seemed to gradually have come to accept that it was reality, even if an extremely strange reality.

"I can't detect anyone else in here," Garm told them after Riko seemed to have somewhat conceded, "But I also don't know about that thing you talked about. The only explanation I can think of is that what you see is your friend's Shadow."

"Didn't you say our own Shadow only became strong when we came inside this world?" Daisuke inquired.

"In your case yes, but this one may be different. By the description you told me of the dead girl's appearance on that 'Watch' thing that must have been her Shadow too," Garm looked up to the moon still clearly visible despite the fog, "You could only see her talk and 'act' when she was already trapped here."

"So... Yukino is still safe?" Riko still seemed confused but apparently was catching up, "If her Watch becomes like Yumeno-senpai it means she's inside?"

"I believe so," Garm nodded, "Her Shadow won't attack her immediately even when she comes here. A Shadow will try to make her reach her true self, it won't kill her unless it rains in your world."

"Wait, it won't attack until it rains?" Tatsuya repeated.

"Yes. When it rains in your world, it means that it also rains here and the fog in this world disappears and Shadows go berserk," Garm continued, cringing, like he had already seen it happen many times before, "The other girl must have been taken hostage by her Shadow, but only killed when it rained."

"But our Shadows attacked as soon as we saw them," Daisuke remembered.

"That's because you actively refused it. If you hadn't rejected your Shadow outright, it wouldn't have fought you… I think."

"You think?" Tatsuya raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, I'm making theories here. I'm not one-hundred percent sure, but I think that's why. BUT, it's still just a theory," Garm shook his head annoyed.

"Hey, ah… Garm-san," Riko called, "Can't they just defeat Yukino's Shadow already? I mean… if the Shadow is defeated, than she won't be in danger, right?"

"That won't work unfortunately," Garm lowered his ears with a sad whimper, like one would hear from a regular dog, "Her Shadow won't disappear until your friend accepts it. Even the Shadows they are fighting aren't dead. They'll be reborn again after a while. And that is especially true about a strong Shadow like that. Even if they are defeated, it will reappear again."

"Sad, isn't it?"

The group who had been completely focused on their talk hadn't even see the owner of the voice until it spoke. Leaning against the wall was someone that Daisuke had dreaded would appear ever since he had seen Riko had come with them: her Shadow.

It was quite a shock to see her. While Daisuke and Tatsuya's Shadows looked pretty much the same as them despite the golden eyes and clothing, Shadow Riko looked a lot different. Her hair was long, shiny, straight, with a golden tiara over it. She wore a frilly expensive looking black dress with orange and gold accents in the form of feathers around the cleavage. Her bright golden eyes were surrounded in bright orange eye shadow. Her painted lips curled in a mocking smile.

"That's… Riko's Shadow?" Tatsuya mumbled more to himself than to the others, "She looks so different..."

"You like how I look, Tatsu-chan?" The Shadow's grin widened, "I wish I could look like this all the time, shame I'm so _damn_ lazy. Maybe boys would start looking at me and not the other whores for a change."

"What!?" Riko took a step forward, completely disregarding what she had just learnt about Shadows, "That's not true! I don't care about that stuff!"

"Oh but you do care," the Shadow began playing with a strand of her hair, "You may act like all you care about is your ghost stories and those battle-heavy manga, but that isn't true. In your heart, you hate that people just assume you don't care about how you look. That you are just like 'one of the boys' only because you're not as pretty as the other girls."

"Stop lying!" Riko was visibly shaking, "I don't care about it! I don't!"

"Riko, don't listen to her," Daisuke closed in on his friend, grabbing her arm, "Don't let her taunt you".

"Oooh, Daisuke-kun!" Riko's Shadow purred while rubbing her uncovered shoulders in a suggestive way "Please hold me, Daisuke-kun! If Tatsu-chan doesn't look at me, at least you do! If only I was pretty like that whore Yukino, then maybe I could have some fun!"

"Shut up! Shut the hell up!" Riko stomped her foot into the ground, "All that stuff you're saying is a lie! You're not me!"

The Shadow gave her one final devilish grin before being engulfed in the dark blue flame that prompted its transformation, sending a shockwave of power that very nearly sent the whole group flying. As the fire slowly burned down, the true appearance of the Shadow manifested itself: It had become much larger, the dress disappearing, her torso getting a bluish colour, with feathers going up her sides, covering her chest and shoulders. The legs had become powerful bird legs with orange feathers gradually becoming black until they ended in talons. Her arms were replaced with four powerful wings, two on each side, one black and one bright orange. Her brow had large feathers over it, and her eyes shone bright gold over a powerful dark blue beak.

"Watch out, it's really powerful!" Garm called out, "Be careful!"

"Wh-What have I…?" Riko had tried to step away, tripping up and falling backwards, looking terrified at the monster.

"Stand back!" Tatsuya shouted, taking a step to get ahead of her, "You better get yourself together, we won't beat it without you!"

The Shadow flapped its long wings sending a powerful gust of wind, trying to throw the group into the air. Daisuke called out for his Stand, Lazarus stepping in front of the group creating a large glass wall that blocked the wind blast before crashing by itself, reforming as a spear that the Stand flung towards the Shadow, but the avian creature took off the ground in a rapid flight, displacing the air strongly as she rose up, dodging the spear that lodged itself on a wall. Shadow Riko sent forth headache inducing cry, beating it's wings sending gust of winds that were so fast and so sharp they materialized as "wind blades", flying towards the group, forcing Daisuke to dodge out of the way, as the wind passed beside him, leaving deep cut marks where it hit.

"Killing you all would be so un-ladylike, it'd be a shame," the Shadow mocked, "But I must put pesky insects like you in their place!"

"Starsailor!" Tatsuya called out, "Bring it down!"

Tatsuya's stand appeared again ahead of him once again creating a gravity sphere that pulled rubble towards him from the street, shifting the polarity on his gravisphere to use them as ammunition, throwing them towards the Shadow that glided quickly, dodging the first few pieces of rubbish, but getting surprised by a small rock that ended up hitting her flank, leaving a blue fuming scar on her torso. The Shadow cried in pain and rage, as it shifted directions, beating its wings and sending a gust of wind blades towards Tatsuya. He couldn't dodge, Riko was right behind him, if he moved she would get hit.

"Magician, look out!"

Garm jumped in front of Tatsuya blocking the gust like it had blocked Shadow Daisuke's attack before. Garm's blocking ability, however, wasn't much of a Match for Shadow Riko, the dog's strength seemed to have been severely sapped by the move as the dog whimpered, slumping down in front of Tatsuya and Riko.

"Hey! Now's not the time for a nap!" Tatsuya called out, kneeling to look at the dog, shaking him and trying to check his condition before looking back, "Riko!"

She looked at him with the same confused and terrified expression she had since the Shadow transformed.

"You can't run from yourself!" Tatsuya said, looking straight at her, "I know how it feels, I hated to see my dark thoughts taunt me like that, but you're much more than that!"

"Get ready to die, Tatsu-chan!"

The Shadow was right in front of them, its wings violently moving back, preparing another powerful attack. There was no time for any of them to dodge, they would get swallowed by the wind blast.

"Don't even think about it!"

Daisuke had bided his time, circling around the area, letting the Shadow be baited by Tatsuya and Riko so he could prepare his strike. He jumped from behind, far higher than he ever could had it not been for his Stands power. His scream had been enough to stop the attack by the Shadow, making it spin around to face him just as Lazarus was lunging forward with a large broadsword made of glass:

"End this, Lazarus!"

The attack connected, Lazarus's sword passing right through the Shadow, making a very large gash that expanded from the front to the back of the creature, dark smoke flying away from it as the Shadow cried in pain and despair, feathers of black and orange floating in the air as they disintegrated into black ashes. The Shadow slumped to the ground with a loud sound and a powerful impact, right in front of the other three. Daisuke fell slightly behind, feeling recoil from his own attack, stumbling before regaining his footing, looking to the Shadow that began shifting again, covered in ashes, smoke and fire as it shrank and morphed down back to its previous form: the dress-wearing Riko that laid on the ground, defeated.

"Great save, partner!" Tatsuya cheered, giving him a thumbs up while falling back, sitting down, trying to recover his strength.

Riko got up then, her expression was no longer one of fear, but what seemed to be sadness and pity as she silently walked up to her fallen Shadow. None of the others spoke a word as Riko crouched in front of her Shadow that was trying to push herself back up. Riko stretched her hand towards her own Shadow:

"Come on, get up," Riko smiled once the Shadow took her hand, "What you said… I try to avoid thinking about it but I can't help it. I don't like when people tell me I should try to be more 'like a girl'. I always try to think that I don't really care if people think I'm ugly, or too much of a boy. I make it so I ignore it when people tell me that no young girl should like what I like or that I'm never gonna get a husband by acting and looking this way. But, even if I try to brush it off, it _does_ bother me. I do get jealous when I see how people look at Yukino and other pretty girls like her, and when they look at me, they act like I'm not really there, or just see me as 'one of the guys'… I'm a loser, really, but… That's who I am. You're not all that I am… But you are definitely a part of me."

The Shadow smiled, this time a kind smile exactly like Riko's, before the dark blue shine took over her form as it transformed again, this time assuming its true form, a Stand. It looked a lot more human than the Shadow, with a feminine figure with bare light blue skin on its belly and arms that ended in golden claws, golden and orange feathers covered her bird like legs, her chest and shoulders, as well as decorated her short red hair. A domino-esque mask made of small dark blue feathers covered was around her shining white eyes. On its back were powerful wings.

"I am thou. Thou art I. I am Santigold, the mask of Strength. I am your sword and your shield."

With its last words, the Shadow-turned-Stand disappeared into Riko, who took her hands to her chest, certainly feeling the warmth that the others had felt when their Stands had awakened. Riko looked up to the others, and she saw them smile at her, she gave a small chuckle:

"Am I one of you now?"

Garm who had returned to his feet walked up to her, raising his paw and like what had happened with the other two, a small ball of light appeared on his paw and from that light, a pair of orange-rimmed glasses appeared:

"I'm glad I started to work on some extra pairs. Welcome aboard, Strength"


	9. Ch9: Connect to Rectangles

**Ch9: Connect to Rectangles**

The diner was small, with very little light besides small lamps on the tables, but something about it, be it the simplistic and antiquated decoration or how huddled together the tables and seats were, gave it a very unique and cosy feeling. Most of the patrons were adults varying between middle aged and older, however there were a few Budoga Oka students in there as well.

The group had lost track of time when they were in the other world, and had found themselves surprised when they had returned to find out it was still a few hours till dinner. With tiredness and hunger setting in however, they had decided to go and eat something together before going back to their respective homes and upon Riko's suggestion, they had picked the diner, sitting at the table by the door, trying to get some space so no one would hear them.

"I never felt so tired in my life," Riko said after eating for a bit, leaning back against her chair, "So that's why you guys looked so beat the other day".

"Yeah, it feels like that world saps your energy," Tatsuya shared, leaning forward, "But I don't feel as tired as last time. I guess you get used to it?"

"Yeah, I feel the same way," Daisuke commented, "As we get more accustomed to the fog and to our Stands, we'll be fine".

"Oh yeah, so I can use my Stand now, right?" A large smile appeared on Riko's face, "You guys looked so cool when you were fighting! I wanna do stuff like that too".

"Hang on, newbie, it takes practice to be this good", Tatsuya chuckled, "Still, your Shadow was tough, so I'm guessing your Stand is pretty strong".

"Yeah…" Riko looked down at her bowl for a few moments, before looking back to the two boys on the other side of the table, "Thanks. I was so embarrassed and afraid that I couldn't do anything. I can only imagine how it was for Yumeno-senpai…"

"Having someone tell you exactly what you are afraid of to your face is scary", Tatsuya admitted, looking up at the ceiling, "Double that if it's someone that looks exactly like a fucked up version of you. Your vain princess, or my egotistical king…" Tatsuya looked at Daisuke, as if he realized something, "You saw both of our Shadows, what was yours like? I mean, it was only you and Garm right? How did you fight it?"

He didn't answer immediately, first looking to both of his friends, before lifting his gaze back to the ceiling. Saeko was the only person that knew of his delinquency in Morioh, and he had hoped that it would remain that way. He didn't want rumours to start spreading about him. He trusted Riko and Tatsuya, doubly so since they now were his partners when it came to stopping the murders, but it still bothered him.

"My Shadow was a violent prisoner", he said after a while, "I was in a gang back in S-City", he paused for a second to see the other two's expressions, seeing the shock on their faces, "That's why I came here, to have a second chance".

A strange silence took over their table, only the sounds of the other costumers was heard for a few minutes, as Tatsuya and Riko seemed to be processing the information, looking at Daisuke and at each other, while he himself decided he wouldn't say anything more until they asked him.

"Hum… So you ever killed someone?" Riko asked in the most awkward of ways.

"Jeez, Riko, what a question…" Tatsuya said under his breath.

"No. I was in fights a lot, that's mostly it, but I still regret it", he said, "I was an idiot that was just trying to figure out his place. And I think I found it here. I probably should've told you before".

"No, it's…" Tatsuya paused for a second before continuing, "Whatever you did back in the City, you seem to be a good person".

"You saved us from our Shadows", Riko recalled with a kind smile, "When you say you regret it, I believe you".

"Yeah, me too", Tatsuya said, before quipping, "I always wanted to have a criminal best friend".

Daisuke smiled relieved as their conversation shifted to a less controversial topic. Even if he knew they were still thinking about his past, and probably doubting him in the back of their minds, the fact that they had been in life-or-death situations together seemed to make that almost irrelevant, at least, at the time. Their focus was to save Yukino, and they were going to succeed in doing it.

He closed the blinds on his window once he confirmed that it was indeed foggy, walking back to his bed and sitting, picking up the phone he had turned off at least an hour ago and casually spinning it with his fingers.

They had warned Yamaguchi, or at least attempted to, but Daisuke couldn't shake the feeling that, it didn't really matter how much they would warn her, that she would still probably be in huge danger. They hadn't found anything about the killer yet. The only real way of them finding out about him would be through testimony of his victims, but since Yumeno had died, they were out of luck so far.

His thoughts dispersed as soon as he heard the sound of static coming from his phone and he immediately looked at the screen, as the silhouette appeared once again, this time however, it soon became focused and he could see Yamaguchi, or, as Garm had explained: Her Shadow. She appeared to be in some sort of old looking golden room, with appeared to be hieroglyphs lining the walls. Like what had happened with the other Shadows, it looked different than her normal self, wearing an Egyptian style white dress with golden armlets and other accessories, and a light blue shawl. Her dark hair had gold clasps and a circlet with a snake was on top of her head. Her shining golden eyes stared deep into the viewer's soul.

" _Why do mere mortals look at me? Do you not see that I am your glorious immortal Empress? Kneel!"_ The Shadow raised her right hand forward in a commanding fashion, " _All of this time I was afraid of my duties, but no longer! I shall take my rightful place and rule! To hell with the opinions of filthy commoners! I, your Goddess Yukino Yamaguchi, will obliterate all who resist and take the Lucky Empire to its rightful place!"_

Shadow Yukino gave a small chuckle, covering her mouth with her hand before the transmission was overcome by static and it ended. Daisuke cursed under his breath as he turned the phone back on, finding that on the newly created group chat that they had created messages confirming what he had seen:

 _Strength:_ _Guys this is bad. Yukino isn't home!  
Magician: wat!? R u kidding me!?  
Strength: Her mum just called to ask if we knew where she was  
Strength: She says Yukino didnt come home  
Magician: goddamn it! that bastard took her  
Strength: Daisuke, are you there?  
Magician: he probs already turned his phone off  
Strength: Yukino will show up on the watch right?_

He swore again, this time out loud, before he wrote his reply, and his friends were quick to reply.

 _Death: Sorry, I had my phone off  
Magician: you saw the watch right?  
Death: Yeah. She seemed like a pharaoh  
Strength: It's got something to do with LuckyLand  
Magician: obvs  
Strength: We have to save her  
Death: It won't rain until next Tuesday. We'll go there tomorrow.  
Magician: k  
Strength: Im worried. But fine. Lets meet tomorrow in the shop district_

Sending his wishes of a goodnight, Daisuke let himself drift into an uneasy sleep filled with the image of Yamaguchi's Shadow.

He woke early the next day despite it being a Sunday and, as such, having no classes. Yet, he was quick to get out of bed and get dressed, not wearing his usual uniform, but instead a pair of jeans, a light grey t-shirt and a black jacket. Despite him wanting to go immediately, they had settled on going after lunch, to not let themselves be impacted by hunger or drowsiness on the other world and, as such, Daisuke waited to have lunch with his aunt.

"You're going out?" Saeko asked between bites, taking a look at him.

"Yeah, I'll go for a walk with my friends".

"Oh. Make sure you have fun then", she wished with a smile.

 _I wish I could_ , he thought to himself. He left just after lunch, walking by himself towards the shopping district, finding both Riko and Tatsuya waiting for him in front of what seemed to be an antique store called "Sakura Antiques". Tatsuya wore dark slacks with a long sleeved black shirt and a yellow hoody jacket over it, while Riko wore a closed teal jacket and jean shorts.

"'Sup", Tatsuya greeted, "We have some shopping to take care of".

"Shopping?" Daisuke raised an eyebrow, "Can't it wait?"

"Actually nope, this is gonna help us out there", Riko smiled, "Come on".

Daisuke was still sceptical, but he ended up following his friends inside into a shop that was relatively small, but filled to the brim with shelves and exhibitors. An old woman with grey hair in a bun and a kind smile greeted them once Riko reached the counter:

"Riko-chan, good to see you," she looked at the other two boys quickly, giving a nod to both of them, before looking back to Riko, "What are you and your friends looking for?"

"You have some weapons for sale, right?" Tatsuya asked upfront, with such lack of tact that Riko elbowed him on his side.

"Weapons? Why yes, we do have some antique ones," the woman admitted, "But why would you want them?"

"Ah, see, my friend here came from the City," Riko said, pointing out Daisuke with a nod of her head, "He's a big fan of old Samurai moves like me, and I told him we could get some cool weapons so he can put on his room".

 _What the hell are you thinking?_ He said in his mind looking at Riko, before noticing the old woman was looking at him expectantly:

"Ah yeah, I love me some Samurais and Ninjas," he was sure that had sounded extremely awkward, but he continued, "If I could get a katana or something, I'd be thankful".

"Oh, if that's the case, we actually have a few of them. As well as other kinds of weapons. We had a few samurai on our lineage".

"You have a kusarigama? Those are super cool", Riko asked, almost in a childlike way, "My friend would probably love one of those".

"I've seen some really cool knives that were used back then too," Tatsuya added, "I'd love to have one of those".

The woman nodded with a half-smile that seemed to be both one happy to have costumers, and eagers ones at that, but also extremely suspicious. Yet, when she came back from the bottom of the store, she brought with her what they had requested, a dagger-like long knife, a recently cleaned kusarigama as well as a hand-and-half katana sword inside a black scabbard.

The price was relatively steep, especially since Daisuke wasn't expecting to have to spend that much money all of a sudden, but in the end, they did all buy their respective weapons, with the women giving them covers to hide them until they got home, warning them to "Not pull of a prank".

"Did you not think of warning me, beforehand?" Daisuke complained as soon as they had put some distance between them and the store, as they were walking towards Owson, garnering some curious looks from people, "Why do we need weapons anyway?"

"I forgot, sorry," Riko made a forced smile, "But… We don't know how that world works. If Shadows attack us and we can't use our Stands we need something to defend ourselves with, right?"

"She's right," Tatsuya said with a nod.

Daisuke sighed, but ended up agreeing. While it was true that weapons could be an important resource when fighting Shadows, he didn't want Saeko to find out her ex-delinquent nephew was going around town buying swords.

Upon reaching the designated spot, Tatsuya took out his phone, taking a quick glance at the other two, counting down and then pressing the app that greeted them with the white flash that blinded them momentarily before they could see the Shadow World around them once again.

"Hi!"

They had just removed the covers from their new weapons and put on their special glasses when Garm appeared in front of them, with his mouth open and wagging his tail.

"Oh, you were waiting for us already?" Riko kneeled next to the dog, scratching behind his ear, "Who's a good boy, Garm-chan?"

"Hey, stop!" Garm shook his head jumping back, "I'm not a dumb dog! I'm a very powerful being!"

"Mmm you look like a regular ol' pupper to me," Tatsuya quipped, placing his new hunting knife on his shoulder.

"That's funny, Magician, because you look like a regular ol' idiot," Garm replied with a mocking grin.

Tatsuya took a step forward challenging Garm to a fight before Daisuke intervened, placing his arm in front of him:

"You can fight another time, we have things to do," he looked at Garm, "Someone else is here, right?"

"Yes," Garm nodded, "I'll take you to there".

Garm started then walking forward, picking up the pace making the other members of the team run after him, Tatsuya slightly lagging behind the other two as they sprinted through the town. Shadows roaming the area didn't seem to give them much thought as they ran however, which Daisuke was unsure of what it meant but he theorized that perhaps they didn't bother to chase prey with a head start.

"What the hell is that thing!?"

Daisuke lifted his eyes to the place that Tatsuya had pointed out, just before they had turned in that direction: A large pyramid was placed right in the middle of the district, with a neon sign reading "LuckyLand" over its gate.

"I don't think this was here last time," Tatsuya said out loud.

"Your friend's Shadow manipulated the area," Garm explained, "She's probably keeping her inside until it rains".

"Then we need to go inside!" Riko said.

"It will be dangerous, though," Garm got in front of them, looking at all three, "There will be strong Shadows inside, besides your friend's".

"We have no choice," Daisuke concluded, looking at his new sword, "Let's do this".


	10. Ch10: Cut a Path

**Ch10: Cut a Path**

Despite its imposing appearance, the door to the strange shopping centre turned pyramid was wide open. The group traded glances with each other, as if to confirm they were all ready before Daisuke stepped through the entrance, the other three trailing behind him.

They found themselves in a very large atrium with gold coloured walls on which were scribbled what initially appeared to be hieroglyphs, but, upon closer inspection, seemed to just be very strange and stylized drawings of grocery products. Spread around the room were statues made of what seemed to be gold, all of them had a likeness to Yukino, or to a couple that looked like her, which, Riko confirmed, were her parents.

"Dude this is pretty fucked" Tatsuya said in a low voice, rotating his new dagger in his hand, "How did the Shadow have time to build this?"

"It wasn't really built" Garm started to explain, "This world is a representation of humanity's darker side. Their hidden desires and thoughts".

"So… This is how Yukino sees LuckyLand?" Riko asked, looking around her with uncertainty.

"Who dares walk into my domain?"

The voice echoed through the atrium, drawing all eyes to the top of the large staircase, where there stood Yukino's Shadow, in her white dress and with her shinning gold jewellery, just like she had been on the Watch. She commandeered an impressive presence.

"Yukino!" Riko called out.

"That's her Shadow" Tatsuya pointed out, taking a combat stance, "Where the hell is Yamaguchi?"

"The Empress is hidden away in her chambers. You filthy commoners have no place here" the Shadow moved her hand in a threatening fashion, "Leave this place at once or face the rage of the Gods!"

"The hell is up with her?" Tatsuya asked, "Her Shadow seems way more delusional than any of ours".

"We won't go" Daisuke declared, clenching his sword harder, "We'll take Yamaguchi with us".

"Then you leave me no choice" Shadow Yukino made a twisted smile, before opening her arms, "Soldiers, cleanse my sight of these pests!"

On the Shadow's call, a black and red goo like substance started to seep in from underneath the cracks in the floor, surrounding the group. The strange slimy substance started rising, gaining a defined form: tall humanoid like creatures, covered in dirty bandages like mummies, but with golden armlets and what seemed to be old aprons where the name "LuckyLand" was sown. The bandages on their faces came off to show bright golden eyes with no pupils, and large mouths with sharp feral teeth.

"Yukino's Shadow is running away!" Riko said, pointing towards the Shadow who was walking away from them.

"We have bigger problems now!" Tatsuya called out, raising his knife in a protective stance, "We're surrounded".

One of the mummy-like Shadows lunged forward at Daisuke, who sidestepped it, grabbing his new katana with both hands for a powerful slashing counter-attack, cutting clean through the middle of the creature, making it disappear in a puff of smoke. Immediately, another one of the Shadows had taken the place of its slain comrade.

"Riko, use your Stand!" Daisuke urged, pointing his sword forward once again, "You can hit them all at the same time, blow them away!"

Riko gave a nod, dropping the chain of her kusarigama to to raise her left hand higher in front of her face, clenching her fist:

"Come out, Santigold!"

The blue aura appeared around Riko and from it, her harpy like Stand appeared, its bright orange plumage seemingly shining. Santigold flew above the ambushed group, opening its wings and, with a hawk-like screech, created a storm surrounding the trapped party, pushing all of the Shadows away in one fell swoop with powerful gusts, making the creatures slam into the walls of the pyramid.

"Amazing, Strength!" Garm praised jumping in place, "You knocked them all down!"

"Let's get going!" Daisuke shouted.

He took the lead, heading towards the stairs, but, just then, more of the liquid Shadows rained from the ceiling, assuming their form just as they touched the steps. As the team stopped, some of the Shadows behind them that had been knocked away, had gotten back up and were now climbing behind them.

"Tatsuya, cover our backs!" Daisuke called.

"Gotcha!" Tatsuya turned around, spinning his knife and slashing the air in front of him with a confident smile, "Throwdown!"

Starsailor heeded its master's call, spinning and creating an energy pulse in its hands that sent the climbing Shadows away, pushing them off the stairs, sending them tumbling down crashing into the other monsters in the lower steps.

"Cut us a path, Lazarus!"

Daisuke's own Stand appeared, summoning a glass sword, cutting past the hordes of Shadows at the top of the stairs, either slicing past them in clean strikes, or sending them tumbling down the side of the staircase with its immense power, the few that managed to slip past the Stand, Daisuke himself took down with his sword.

Clearing their way past the upper steps of the staircase, they reached the top level, where a new wave of Shadow Mummies awaited them in front of a closed door.

"Goddamnit, there's no end to them!" Tatsuya complained before looking over his shoulder, "There's more coming from bellow too!"

"I can sense your friend past that door" Garm said stepping in front of them, pointing ahead with his snout.

"Guess we'll have to break through then" Daisuke concluded, a smile creeping into his face, he was starting to enjoy fighting again, "Tatsuya, try and keep the ones from behind us from climbing up, Riko, keep them away from the door. I'll open it".

The other two nodded in agreement with the plan, Tatsuya running back to the stairs, slashing a lunging Shadow with his knife, spinning to dodge a second one and then calling out Starsailor to create a gravity sphere, stronger than the last one, to pull the shadows into it. While his Stand pulled in Shadows into it's sphere, Tatsuya himself kept using his agility to strike the ones he could with his dagger.

"I'll handle this from here!" Tatsuya shouted, "Get that damn thing open, partner!"

Garm stayed back to help protect Tatsuya, as Daisuke and Riko charged forward together heading towards the door. Riko spun the chain of her kusarigama, sending it forward to knock down a lunging Shadow, slashing another with the blade part of her weapon. As the layers of Shadows grew more and more stacked, however, she called forth her trump card:

"Wind blast, Santi!"

Santigold flapped its wings once more, generating a powerful wind against the door that pushed the Shadows in front of it into the air, taking them off Daisuke's path as he rushed forward, send Lazarus ahead of him, hitting the middle of the door with full force, creating a small but still large enough gap for the Stand to be able to get his glass-clawed fingers in to try and separate both sides of the door. Even if he was not the one that was actually pulling the door, Daisuke started to feel his energy sapped by the trial, his fingers growing numb, as he tried to keep the Shadows away from his Stand with sword, complimenting Riko's wind based attacks.

"Guys, this is getting worse and worse!" Tatsuya called out from the other side of the room, amidst tired panting, "They keep coming!"

Daisuke turned back towards the door that was now wide enough so that they could go through:

"Everyone, get in here!"

All eyes turned towards the door and, immediately afterwards, they all started to run as fast as they could towards the half-open gate that Lazarus kept propping open.

As soon as Tatsuya, the last one, slid past the door, Daisuke called Lazarus back and the door slammed shut as soon as he did. The Shadows that had dared try to squeeze through were crushed between the halves of the door.

On the other side, in a very long dimly lit corridor, all four let themselves fall on the ground, feeling extremely tired and numb from all the fighting.

"Damn it, I hope I get a discount for life" Tatsuya complained leaning against the wall, cleaning sweat from his brow.

"Garm-chan, is this how Yukino sees the employees of Luckyland?" Riko questioned, "Just mindless zombies?"

"I wouldn't say that she does see them like it", Garm said, looking up, thinking, "I guess, it's more like, how her distorted Shadow sees them".

"Man this shit is way too complicated", complained Tatsuya, "I'll just focus on beating up Shadows".

Daisuke used his sword to prop himself back up, long forward into the corridor where there didn't seem to be anything for a few meters ahead, besides the golden walls with the same hieroglyph style drawings. He turned to Garm, who was also back on his paws:

"Yamaguchi is past this corridor, right?"

"Yes, my nose never fails" Garm answered, "This corridor should lead to the centre of the pyramid. She's there for sure".

"And her Shadow" Daisuke added grimly, before turning back to look at the other two, "Let's get moving, then".

"Right after you" said Tatsuya, getting up from the ground.

"Let's go save, Yukino!" Riko intoned, getting fired back up again.

Daisuke gave a silent nod and began walking forward, Garm by his side, Tatsuya and Riko following right behind him. The corridor was a straight line with no twists, nor turns, with the only thing unique about it being the flickering light of the torches on the walls. They felt like they had walked for a long time, when it probably had only been a few minutes, but it seemed like they weren't even moving at all until, finally, they reached another door, like the one they had gone through before, this one however, opened at their touch.

On the other side of the corridor was another very large, but also incredibly empty room. It was decorated the same as the entranced had been, with the same statues and hieroglyphs. However, in this one there was also treasure in large piles all around the room and, in the middle, lying down, seemingly unconscious, was a dark haired girl in Budoga Oka's uniform: Yukino Yamaguchi.


	11. Ch11: Empress of the Desert

**Empress of the Desert:**

Upon seeing Yukino laying on the floor, they all rushed to meet her, Riko helping her friend up into a seating position, Yukino leaning against her, as her eyes slowly opened, and she blinked a few times, before looking around, with increasing confusion:

"Riko? Mikado-kun? Ichijou-kun?"

"Yamaguchi, are you alright? Are you hurt?" Daisuke asked, kneeling next to the two girls.

She didn't seem to be hurt, at least, there didn't appear to be any external injuries, and even her uniform didn't appear to be especially tattered or dirty. Looking at her, it was if she had been placed there while she was asleep.

"No… I just feel a bit lightheaded", she touched her head with her hand, "Where am I?"

"This is the truth created by your heart".

Daisuke and Tatsuya got back up on their feet immediately, raising their weapons as they heard the distorted voice that had greeted them at the entrance, and saw that Shadow Yukino had appeared out of thin air at the end of the room, on top of one of the piles of shining gold treasure, casually walking down it, as if it were a staircase.

Riko helped Yukino regain her feet, as the dark haired girl stared at her Shadow with unbelieving eyes, confusion and fear.

"You are inside the crown jewel of your empire. The pyramid of LuckyLand", the Shadow's grinned, "It's where you were born and raised, from atop the filthy commoners who insist on defiling your legacy's name, only because they envy you and your lineage. Who cares about the opinions of sheep? They are nothing to your might".

"No… I don't think that…" Yukino's face was a mixture of hurt and confusion, "I don't…"

"Do you not?" the Shadow continued to walk towards them, her jewellery's shine shifting with every step, "Are you not tired of the disgusted looks people give you? Not because you ever did them something, but because your parents achieved what they could never? You don't care about those useless idiots. They despise your shop, but in time they will all be subjugated by it. You will take Morioh for yourself, and then no one shall question you again".

"Yamaguchi-san, that thing is your darker half", Daisuke said, getting himself further in front of her in a protective stance, giving her a quick glance, "You must accept it to defeat her".

"Poor Yukino can't even decide what she wants for herself, how can she know how she truly feels?" the Shadow gave a small chuckle, crossing her arms, "She wants to shut up everyone who doubts her family, but at the same time, she herself wants out. She doesn't want to stay tied up to her family's business. She wants them to fail as much as the commoners".

"No!" Yukino had jumped to her feet, almost falling back down if not held by Riko, "That's not true! That's a lie!"

"You want your family's business to fail so you can finally escape from everything! From this town and their jealousy, from your family's business, from yourself!" the Shadow opened her arms wide, "Look at me: I am you!"

"No! You're not me!"

Yukino's terrified scream echoed inside the pyramid, and no else dared to speak until it died down, as the Shadow was enveloped in a dark flame, shifting and growing more and more, as the treasure around her was enveloped by the flames of transfiguration, becoming one with the Shadow.

"Garm, protect Yamaguchi!" Daisuke screamed behind him, as he, Tatsuya and Riko took steps ahead.

"Got it!" the dog said, stepping into position in front of the girl who had stumbled to the ground, frozen in fear.

The Shadow completed its transformation then, the fire surrounding it dying down to allow the team to see its new form: A gigantic sphynx had appeared before them, almost completely made of gold that seemed to shift in place, like it had a video glitch. Its head, however, had the top of it emptied out, as if it had been broken, and inside it stood a pitch black humanoid chained to it, with dark smoke coming from its head, like a sort of ethereal hair. Underneath the shadowy woman, the large feral mouth of the sphynx was open, showing sharp golden teeth.

"I am a Shadow. The true self"

The chains rattled around the humanoid part of the Shadow as it moved its arms and legs and, as it did, the Sphynx's mouth was opened wider and a stream of scorching fire came from it, aimed at the trio.

"Protect us, Santigold!"

Riko's Stand stood in front of them, generating a powerful gust of wind that managed to hold the fire before it reached them, keeping it at bay, but as it did, Riko stumbled to one knee: The power and heat of the flames was too strong, especially for a Riko that was already tired out by the fight at the entrance.

"Hey, ya big bitch! Come get me!" Shouted Tatsuya.

The blond stepped around the clash of forces, running around the left side of the sphynx, in an attempt to bait it, successfully grabbing its attention, making it stop targeting Riko and focus its attention on him.

The Sphynx move its front paws to try and smash him, but Tatsuya managed to slide past the first strike, rolling past the second one. The Sphynx seemed to be incapable of moving its hind legs and move out of the way, but just as Tatsuya deemed himself out of range, the Sphyx's tail moved, trying to crash into him like a giant whip.

"Oh crap!" Tatsuya cursed loudly, "Starsailor!"

His Stand appeared then, creating a pulse under Tatsuya, making him jump much farther and faster than he could normally, clearing the sphynx fully, to the other side, where he created another pull, this time pulling him safely down. He celebrated his quick thinking, but immediately regretted as the Shadow had turned around to try and attack him again.

"Little help here!" Tatsuya cried out.

"Lazarus!"

Daisuke jumped in front of his teammate, summoning his Stand to throw a glass spear forward, aimed at the exposed humanoid core, but, immediately, it pulled on its chains again, and the Sphynx moved its paw with impressive speed, making the glass spear get lodged deep into the golden stone palm, however, no damage seemed to be really done, as its liveliness seemed to come exclusively from the woman chained to the head. That seemed to be the true Shadow.

"Damn it," Daisuke muttered under his breath, before adding louder for Tatsuya to hear: "We have to hit the core, or we won't get anywhere".

"Die, mortals!"

The chains rattled once more, and another stream of fire fell upon them, Tatsuya acting even before Daisuke could create a glass wall, summoning another gravity pulse that pulled the two of them back towards the others, dodging the fire successfully, but both of them rolling on the ground. Riko immediately neared them, kneeling down to check on them, but as she did, the Sphynx was reading another flame blast.

"Riko!" Daisuke called out, getting back up, pointing forward, "Aim for the core! Force her to defend!"

"Will do, chief!" Riko took steps ahead, nodding, "Wind blades!"

Santigold flapped its wings, moving its arms forward slashing the air in front of her, and from it two violent gust of wind, sharp as a knife went towards the humanoid core who once again raised one of its paws to blocking the strike, as it had blocked Lazarus' spear moments before.

"Keep attacking it! It can't get off the ground", Garm called out, behind them, "If you keep forcing it to protect its core, it won't be able to fight back!"

Riko pulled her arms back, before pushing forward again, her Stand imitating her and calling further a stronger wind blast, forcing the Sphynx to keep her paw up, protecting her weak core.

They had come upon an advantage. The Sphynx was virtually invincible, no matter how much they tried to hack away at it, but the real Shadow would certainly not be able to effectively tank any hit. If they managed to force the Sphynx to protect it, and then find a way past that defence, they could defeat it.

"Tatsuya!" Daisuke called, pointing towards the Shadow, "You thing you can force its paw down?"

"Huh? Oh!" Tatsuya made a large grin, once he realised his partner's plan, "Leave it to me!"

Tatsuya spun his knife in his hand, slashing the air in front of him to call out his Stand that formed another gravity sphere, this one however, was the largest he had formed yet, having enough time to charge thanks to the constant wind blast that forced their opponent into blocking, and just trying to swing wildly with no actual aim with its left paw.

With impeccable timing Santigold ceased her attack to allow Startsailor to slide in front of her, sending out the powerful gravity sphere underneath the sphynx's head, the powerful purple energy pulses were so strong that, despite the incredible resiliency, the sphynx's paw was forced to lower, exposing her core.

"Lazarus!"

"Santigold!"

With their backs to each other, Daisuke and Riko both pointed their weapons forward, as both of their Stands rushed from them, Santigold sending a powerful gust of wind that mixed itself with Lazarus' sharp glass shards, passing through the gap that Tatsuya's gravity pull had created, hitting the core violently, creating large smoking gashes where the shards slashed past it, the winds strong enough to break the rattling chains as a terrifying scream was heard from it, enough to force the party to cover their ears immediately. It was full of anger and pain, but also strangely sorrowful.

"That… That scream" Yukino said, getting up almost instantly, not covering her ears.

The golden sphynx started to lose its strange shifting glow, as slowly it started to crumble, as its core detached itself from it, falling down from the hollowing, towards the ground.

"N-No!"

Yukino, seemingly shaking out of her trance, ran past the group, passing right beside them and towards the crumbling sphynx ignoring the warning calls of her classmates. Yukino held her arms out, catching the darkened and smoking core in her arms, falling back, into the ground with the impact, the shielding the Shadow.

"Yukino!" Riko called out, rushing to meet her once again, as she had minutes before.

The Shadow's form had reverted, leaving her darkened smoking form to appear once again as Yukino's Pharaoh-esque doppelgänger. They separated momentarily, Yukino letting her Shadow getting free from her to step back on to her feet and giving her hand forward letting Yukino grab it to pull herself back up as well.

"Those screams… I didn't get it when I first heard you", Yukino started to say, almost as if oblivious to the others behind her, "I thought you weren't me. But you are. Those screams were of someone scared and alone… And that's what I am".

Yukino smiled, a scared smile, but very much genuine, perhaps the most genuine smile Daisuke had ever seen her with.

"Every day, wherever I go, people always treat me different because of LuckyLand. They talk like we're a sort of cancer on this town, because we take away other people's livelihood, but my parents keep telling me that I should be proud of our family's hard work, and that one day, this place will be mine…" She bit her lip, "I felt trapped. I feel trapped. I don't want people to hate me, so I don't want to stay and work at LuckyLand, but I also don't want my parents to think I don't appreciate them or what they do…"

"Yukino…" Riko mumbled to herself.

"It's okay", she said, holding both of her Shadows hands, "I realize that I should just do what's right for myself. That I should stop bottling up about my feelings. That I shouldn't feel bad for wanting something different", she raised her and the Shadow's hands, "You were chained, but now you are free. And you are me".

Her Shadow smiled and nodded, as its body was enveloped in a blue glow, particles shifting within it, as its form changed once more, now to her true form as a Stand. Levitating in front of Yukino was a lean woman with light purple soft skin, wearing a midnight blue and black dress, with light blue feathers along the shoulders and on the sleeves. Incandescent light blue hair fell in two long bangs in front of her ears, but the upper part of her face was covered by a midnight blue witch's hat, with a red juel in front, over three small light blue feathers.

"I am thou. Thou art I", the Stand called, placing one of its gloves hands on her chest, "I am Arabella, the mask of the Empress. I am your sword and your shield".

With its words, celebrating their new pact, Arabella transfigured into the blue sparks that flew into her new mistress that placed a hand on her own chest, with a sweet smile.

"Good job, Yamaguchi!" Tatsuya said, storing his knife on his belt, and putting his hands behind his head with a big smile, "You're one of us now!"

"Oh! How rude of me, I forgot!" Yukino turned towards them, making an elaborate bow, "Thank you so much!"

"We're just glad you are alright", Riko said, scratching her head with a dumb smile, being caught by surprise by the sudden bow and thanking.

"Ah… guys?"

The four of them looked towards Garm, who was standing next to the corridor where they had entered from, where the door was wide open.

"This place was formed from Empress's cognition…" Garm looked around, with what seemed to be nervous anticipation, "Since her cognition changed…"

Almost on cue, a strong rumbling began inside the pyramid, almost as if an earthquake was taking place. Dust flying in from newly formed cracks inside the room, as a few of the golden bricks shifted in place and began to fall down.

"This place is going to fall apart!?" Tatsuya screamed loud enough for the echo to be heard above the loud rumble.

"We need to get out, right now!" Daisuke shouted.

Immediately, they rushed towards the door, but as they reached it, the tunnel caved down, getting crushed underneath rubble and dust, forcing the group back into the room.

"What are we gonna do!?" Riko asked in a frantic panic.

"We have to go shift back here", Daisuke pulled out his phone.

They all rushed to get near him, and as soon as Daisuke pressed his app, the blinding light came over them, ripping them from the pyramid and into what seemed to be a void, before finally shooting them back out, crashing into the ground.

The large sound of their crash could be heard far, as well as the groans of pain from the group. When Daisuke opened his eyes again, he was laying on the ground, his head against Riko's legs and his own legs over Tatsuya's head. Yukino had fallen over him and, next to them, Garm was laying down.

"Everything hurts…" Tatsuya mumbled under his breath, as the team awkwardly separated, and got back on their feet.

Looking around, they could see that they were in what appeared to be an electronics store, specifically, surrounded by televisions. The sound of their crash into the place had garnered attention, as customers that were passing by, turned to look at them.

"This is LuckyLand's electronics store", Yukino said, recognizing the place, "We're back…?"

"We should get away from here, people are staring at us" Garm advised.

"Hey, is there a dog over here?" a male deep voice came from around a corner, "I heard some barking".

"Shit", Tatsuya cursed, "Good going, you useless dog".

"Shut up", Daisuke punched his friend on the arm, before looking back at Riko and Yukino, "Riko, stay with her. We'll get going before we get in trouble".

Riko nodded next to the confused Yukino, Daisuke crouching down to pick up Garm, holding the dog next to him as he and Tatsuya walked hunched over to not be seen by the guard, as they tried their best to leave the store, trying their hardest to hide weapons and a dog. They got all sorts of weird looks, and even some glances from the security, but they managed to "fast-walk" quickly enough to leave the place, back into the district, where Daisuke finally could let the annoyed Garm go.

"Warn me next time you grab me!" Garm complained loudly, "Rude!"

People turned to look at them once again, however the fact that Garm was talking and not actually barking didn't seem to register to them. As he heard Tatsuya and Garm continue their bickering, he wondered if only people that had heard Garm speak in the other world could hear him speak in the real one, or maybe it had to do with the fact they were Stand Masters.

Daisuke and Tatsuya's phones vibrated at the same time, and as they shared a quick glance with each other, they took their phones out, checking their messages:

 _Strength: Yukino is with her parents. she's safe._


	12. Ch12: Come Together

**Ch12: Come Together**

The diner was their meeting spot once again, that day however it had less patrons than last time, probably since it was sunday the costumers had decided to pick one of the fancier more expansive options in town. Tatsuya and Daisuke had taken a seat at one of the corner tables, Garm had been very poorly hidden along with their weapons, but thankfully, they had managed to be fast and sneaky enough to take their seats where they hadn't been noticed, or at least, people hadn't fully grasped what they had saw, and didn't bother to look again when the two boys were seated, the small black dog hidden under the table, next to Daisuke on his bench.

"This was a terrible idea" Tatsuya said with half a smile, "I can kind of hide my knife, but you're carrying a katana and a dog".

"I can hide away your weapons, I think" Garm said, making an effort to make as little noise as possible, as his voice would be perceived as barks to normal people.

"We can't use our Stands outside that world" the blond recalled, crossing his arms, "That wouldn't work".

Garm ignored the comment, moving his small paws to get near Daisuke's sword set at his side, touching it with his front right paw and, as he did, the sword was taken by a white light, becoming a small sphere and disappearing.

"What the hell?" Tatsuya asked, louder than he would've liked, leaning forward, "How?"

"My powers aren't like a Stand", Garm recalled, his muzzle peaking over the top of the table momentarily to give a smug look to Tatsuya, "I'm special".

Those words lit up questions in Daisuke's mind: What was Garm? He looked like a normal dog, if not a bit more expressive, but he was capable of intelligent speech, could craft objects like their glasses, could store away other objects, even those from the real world like Daisuke's sword, had the ability to deflect attacks in exchange for his own strength, and all that even outside the Shadow World, when their Stands were sealed out of it. Garm had said that only he and Shadows lived on the other world, but what exactly was he? Could he be a Shadow? No, he didn't look like anything like any of the Shadows they had face before, be it regular bestial Shadows, be it their corrupted Stands.

"Hey Death, something wrong?" Garm asked, noticing the puzzled look that Daisuke was giving him, "I got something on my nose?"

"Huh? No, nothing" Daisuke deflected, before switching the topic, "Hey, Garm, will you go back to the other world?"

"Oh yeah, you're not from here" Tatsuya said, putting on a mocking grin, "Looks like its back to the Shadow streets with you, doggo".

"Hum…" Garm's ears fell with a sad whimper, much like a regular dog, "Don't you humans live with dogs? Can't I pass for a regular dog and go live with one of you?"

"I can't have any dogs at my house" Tatsuya shook his head, contrary to his regular bickering with Garm, that seemed sincere, "My parents aren't dog persons. Riko already has a cat so that is probably a bad idea too".

Daisuke wondered what his aunt Saeko would think if he randomly showed up with a dog. She was kind and liked animals, but even if Garm wasn't a regular dog and would behave, she wouldn't know it. Still, even if he was now question what Garm truly was, the sad look in his eyes was melting his heart. He sighed, crossing his arms and looking up before finally looking back at Garm:

"Maybe you can come with me…" he ended up regrettably saying. Garm started to cheer, but Daisuke quickly added, "But I'll have to check with my aunt first, ok?"

Even if Daisuke's answer was very much inconclusive, it was enough to cheer up Garm, who wiggled his tail happy, like a normal dog would.

Riko arrived only a few moments after, taking a nervous glance around, trying to hide her kusarigama under her jacket before sitting next to Tatsuya, calming down once Garm hid it, like he had done to Daisuke's katana before.

"So… How's Yamaguchi?" Daisuke asked.

"She's great" Riko beamed "Her parents were so relieved when they saw her. She seems to be super tired, even more than we were on our first time on that world, but besides that she's peachy".

"That's a huge relief" Daisuke smiled.

"Still, she won't come to school for a few days" Riko informed them, "They took her to the hospital, so the doctors can check her out while she recovers. The police will also talk to her, to try and see if they can gather clues".

"They won't get anything" Tatsuya opined, "They have no idea about that other world. It's gotta be us".

"Did Empress tell you about what she saw before she was sent to the Shadow World?" Garm questioned, his face appearing once again over the table, to look at Riko.

"No… We didn't get to talk much, of course" Riko said, "I just told her to not mention anything about what happened in the other world. But she said she wasn't going to. She also told me when she came back to school, she wanted to talk to all of us".

"Man, Yamaguchi would be a great addition to the team" Tatsuya commented with a large grin, "I hope she joins".

"Yes, Empress' Arabella seems to have fire abilities" Garm ears perked up, "They can be extremely useful".

"And… Maybe by being on the team, I may convince her to go on a date with me!" Tatsuya chuckled, "Finally we get a cute girl on the te-Ow!"

Riko had violently stepped on Tatsuya's foot, making him scream loudly in pain, bending down to caress his attacked foot, while Daisuke and Garm couldn't help but laugh at Riko's pissed off look, with her arms crossed.

Daisuke walked back home with Garm following behind him, still wiggling his tail. Even if Daisuke was still unsure of his canine companion's true form, he obviously didn't like living in the other world, even if he was from there.

"Aunt Saeko, I'm back", Daisuke declared, opening the door.

Saeko was already waiting at the dinner table, she probably had already cooked dinner for a little while, yet, she still smiled when she saw him go through the door:

"Well you were out for a while" she commented, "What were you guys doing?"

"We just took a walk around the city and stuff, we went to the park and hum…" Daisuke bent down behind him, picking up Garm and raising him up to his chest, to show to Saeko, "We found this little guy".

Saeko instantly looked at him with a confused expression, getting up from her seat, to walk to where he was, looking between Garm and him.

"He was living by himself back in the park, but he ended up following us", Daisuke said, reciting his planned lie, "Can I keep him?"

Saeko scratched behind Garm's ear affectively, but still stepped back, crossing her arms and leaning her head thinking. Even if Saeko liked dogs, which Daisuke knew she did, keeping one was still a big task:

"I don't know…" Saeko looked straight at Garm, who looked at her with expectant eyes, "You know my shifts are never set, so I can't keep watch over him and take him on walks… Besides, we'd have to get food and the like".

"I can feed him and take him on walks", Daisuke offered, "You won't need to worry about taking care of him, I promise I'll do it".

Saeko still looked a bit conflicted, but following a whimper from Garm, very obviously made to try and melt her heart, she ended up sighing and petting his head:

"Fine, but you're responsible for him", she leaned to look at Garm's face, taking both hands to pet and scratch behind his ears, "Welcome to the family, lil' guy!"

Daisuke smiled, laying Garm back down on the floor, where he quickly went to rub himself against Saeko's legs, at which Daisuke couldn't help but grin " _You're good at this you small bastard"._

"You picked a name for him?" Saeko said, getting back up after petting him a few more times.

"Yeah, he's Garm".

"Garm? Well that's an out there name. I kind of wanted to name him", she smiled, "But ok, he's your dog. Come on now, let's eat".

Saeko's cooking was still impressive to Daisuke, who ate as much as he could before he felt full, trying to replenish the energy he had lost fighting on the other world. Saeko had also put some of the meat on a small plate to give Garm something to eat, at least, until they bought him proper food the next day.

When Daisuke went back up to his room, Garm immediately followed, sitting himself on the bed while Daisuke switched clothes to his pyjamas.

"Thanks", Garm said, laying down on the bed when Daisuke sit beside him on the bed, "I can survive on the Shadow World, but it's nice to, for once, being able to sleep without thinking something might attack me".

"You saved us enough times already", Daisuke scratched being Garm's ear, "It's the least I could do".

Daisuke heard his phone then, and he walked to get it from his desk picking it up to see new messages on the chat, as well as a new person being added to it:

 _~Strength (Riko Kida) has added Empress (Yukino Yamaguchi) to the chat~  
Strength: Welcome to the chat, Yuuki!  
Magician: hey yamaguchi! whaddup?  
Empress: Hi! Thank you all so much for saving me!  
Strength: We've told you already, don't sweat it. You're our friend.  
Magician: btw i was rly important in da fight. so if u wanna thank me how bout a date?  
Strength: Ugh! Ignore Tatsuya._

"I can barely read what Magician says, but he's really desperate, ain't he?" Garm said, leaning next to Daisuke to read the chat logs.

 _Empress: I'll stay in the hospital for a few more days. But I'm not hurt, so don't worry.  
Empress: But when I come back. I want to talk with you guys.  
Strength: Sure!  
Empress: I only know the bit Riko told me, but I want to help people like you helped me  
Empress: I want to join your team.  
Magician: niceee :P  
Strength: We'd love to have you!  
Death: Welcome.  
Empress: Thanks! I'm so happy.  
Empress: Oh sorry, I'll have to go now. They're going to run some tests. See you!_

They each said their respective goodbyes and the chat continued with just the other three for a little while, with Garm always looking over Daisuke's arm and telling him to type for him, before finally, they decided to call it for the day.

Daisuke laid in bed under the sheets, Garm laying on the bed at his feet, rolled into himself to sleep. He thought of their first success could be enough to dissuade the killer, but he knew that wouldn't happen, he wouldn't quit at the first bump on the road. However, now that he, Riko and Tatsuya were starting to get the hang of things, and with Yukino joining in, they stood a chance at catching however was threatening the town. Even the prospect of facing Sakakibara the next day first thing in the morning seemed less dire.


	13. Ch13: Sword Master

**Sword Master**

When the dreaded rain had come on Tuesday the team had been expectant, as, even if they had managed to break Yukino out of her cognition created prison in the Shadow World, they still didn't understand enough of the other world to know she was truly safe. Yet, once midnight hit and the rain kept pouring down non-stop, Yukino made sure to text the rest of the group, informing them that she was safe.

The killer's strategy seemed to be focused exclusively on using the Shadow World, so, as long as it didn't rain, his victims, even if already in the other side, would be kept hidden by their own Shadows until that strange deadline. Daisuke made a mental note to constantly check the weather report from there on, always paying special attention to foggy days, as they would show someone trapped on the other side, and, even more to days of heavy rain. Thankfully, it seemed that the next few days would be sunny or just partly cloudy, so they could relax, at least, somewhat.

The next few days were far more normal than the ones that had preceded them. To Daisuke, it was almost funny how just normal days of going to school and studying seemed so alien after the last week had been filled with worrying about the Watch and entering the other world to fight Shadows.

Yukino still hadn't been discharged from the hospital so the group had kept from entering the other world. Tatsuya had suggested it once for them to gather more practice, yet Daisuke and Riko had argued against it saying that it was better to not abuse of their visits to the Shadow World, since they didn't fully understand it and it would be dangerous to recklessly dive into it for no real reason.

Garm had been enjoying life living at Saeko's house, and the nurse had also grown to like having the pup around; Daisuke often found his aunt watching television with Garm lying next to her feet or by her side on the couch when he returned home. He thought once again of asking his canine friend about what he really was, but once again, he had failed to garner the courage to do so. It seemed to be an inconsiderate question that he might take offence to, so he would lay off the question until he felt like it was a good time.

The sun was partly hidden behind clouds when Daisuke had left his house on Friday, but it was still quite hot, even for the end of April. Riko ended up meeting with him when he was almost at the school gates, the short haired girl greeting him with her usual good mood that didn't seem to care for early mornings:

"Hiya!"

"Hey" Daisuke greeted, raising his right hand, walking up next to her, and both continuing towards the hilltop.

"I got some good news" she said beaming, "Yukino says she'll get cleared on Tuesday".

"Nice" Daisuke smiled back, "Why did it take them so long, though? She didn't have any injuries, at least nothing major".

"She doesn't know either" Riko admitted, "I guess maybe they were trying to keep her in a safe place before the killer could act?"

Daisuke leaned his head, as if silently saying "It could be". The police were still most likely unaware of how exactly the mysterious killer and kidnapper orchestrated his crimes, which was not helped by the fact that Yukino herself, from what she had told the group, couldn't remember anything between when she had left school and when she had woke up at the pyramid created by her Shadow.

The first few classes of the day were interesting enough, however, the shadow of dread lurked over them once more when Sakakibara took the stage for the last class of the day, immediately wiping away every semblance of hope from the students as once again he went on a long tirade, this time about LuckyLand and how the youth's laziness was leading to the end of traditional hard working commerce and jobs.

"You wanna see proof?" Sakakibara said, crossing his arms pointing to the empty seat in front of Daisuke, "Yamagishi, or whatever her name is, the heir of that hellhole hasn't even showed up to school once in the last week! That's what this stuff does to your brains! It makes you complete sociopaths that don't give a damn about others!"

Daisuke closed his fists under his desk. He had learnt to just let Sakakibara talk and ignore him, but somehow that was sending him over the edge. He could brush off the teacher provoking him and insulting him to his face, but to do it to Yamaguchi who wasn't there to defend herself but instead in the hospital recovering from an attempt on her life was something he couldn't accept.

"That bastard!" Tatsuya said, fuming, as soon as they left the classroom.

"Quiet down" Riko advised, grabbing the boy's arm, "You're already in enough trouble with him as it is".

"But… Damn it" Tatsuya closed his fists.

"Didn't Mr. Kujiragi tell you he'd try to convince Sakakibara to take you back on the volleyball club if you behaved?" the girl recalled, lifting a finger, "Don't just throw that away. Yukino probably doesn't care".

"Fine… You're right" Tatsuya sighed, before looking to Daisuke, "By the way, you don't have any club activities right?"

"No, I don't" the taller youth shook his head, "Why?"

"Well, you see I wanted you to join the volleyball team, but since I'm not the captain anymore, and I still don't know if I'll get to go back, maybe you shouldn't" Tatsuya scratched his head.

"You should still find a club though" Riko opined, "I mean, teachers keep telling us about how important they are, why don't you?"

Riko's suggestion made Daisuke recall what Toriumi-senpai had told him before, about how he should do the same exact thing. He wasn't too interested in club duties back at his old school, after all, he was too busy with fighting to ever really care much about anything else. Even if he now had dependable friends and he was already busy enough with the Shadow World and classes, maybe actually doing more in school than just be shouted at by Sakakibara was a good idea.

"Well, you know Tatsuya's in the volleyball club. I actually joined the photography club this year, decided to try it out" Riko said shifting her weight from one leg to the other, "Hey, I thought of a good one: Why don't you try the kendo team?"

"I don't really know the rules" Daisuke admitted.

"You already use a sword in the other world, maybe this can help you get better" Suggested Tatsuya crossing his arms, "I think I'd be more comfortable having you as a leader if I knew you wouldn't accidentally cut me".

"Besides, Boduga's kendo team is famous, we almost won the nationals. There was this amazing first year that went on this crazy winning streak, but he ended up rolling his ankle so he couldn't compete in the last few matches" Riko explained, apparently very knowledgeable in the subject.

"Oh yeah, Kuronuma" Tatsuya said, not without a hint of what seemed to be envy, "Guy gets paraded around like a hero. He has fangirls showing up to his practice and everything".

"Is that the green of envy I see on your eyes?" Riko teased.

"Hell no!" Tatsuya blurted, before thinking of something and grinning while touching Daisuke's shoulder, "That other dude never fought for real though, right? Why don't you go there and show him who the real sword master is?"

"Ah… Sure" Daisuke said, "I mean, I can do with extra sword practice".

"Nice!" Tatsuya slapped his shoulder with excessive force, "I remember that they shared the gym with us, so they should be in the middle of practice right now, let's get to it!"

"We're just gonna burst in like that?" Daisuke raised an eyebrow, as he was being pushed forward by Tatsuya.

"Well, I'll catch up with you guys later then" Riko said waving, "I'll go check in with Yukino in the hospital".

Having said their goodbyes, they split up, Riko making for the exit, while Daiuske and Tatsuya made their way along the school towards the gym. Upon entering the green doors, they were in a quite spacious building with a few rows of stands on the sides where some people were intently watching the action on the wooden floor. A few students and a teacher, which Daisuke recognized as Mr. Okada, the history teacher, were all surrounding two students in kendo gear that walked around each other with their bamboo swords at the ready. Both of the fighters wore similar uniforms, but the one that was currently circling to the right had distinct white stripes on some parts of it.

The student in white was noticeably more agile and stronger than his opponent, easily deflecting any attacks coming his way, while he himself countering at every chance he got. In a few moments, he had already hit his opponent so many times that there was no way of his adversary ever catching up, making him throw caution to the wind and go for desperate wild strikes that were all expertly parried and overturned by the more skilled duellist, that completed his victory with a strong hit to the side of his opponent's helmet that got a huge cheer, not only from the students surrounding them, but also from the few people that were at the stands, that Daisuke realized were mostly girls calling out for "Shiro-senpai".

The student in the white stripes raised his sword to the stands, before placing it under his armpit taking of his mask, and shaking his head to clear himself of sweat. Underneath his mask he was quite handsome, with auburn medium length hair, still sweat drench, and with sharp dark blue eyes. He smiled towards what seemed to be his fanclub, further increasing the cheers.

"That guy is Kuronuma, cocky bastard" Tatsuya grumbled next to Daisuke.

Even if Tatsuya's comment surely hadn't been heard, it was then that the kendo team seemed to have noticed their presence next to the door, Mr. Okada approaching them while the rest of his students stared at them:

"Excuse me, are you here to join the Kendo club?" the teacher and club advisor asked.

"I'm from the volleyball club" Tatsuya said, putting a hand on his chest, "But my friend might".

"Oh you do?" Mr. Okada smiled at the prospect of a new club member, "Oh, yes, you're Ichijou-san, the transfer student, right? Have you ever done Kendo?"

"I'm afraid not" Daisuke admitted, "But I'd like to try it, I guess".

"Hum… Our practice for today is ending, so maybe you can come and watch the next session and decide if you want to join?" Mr. Okada proposed, "We have other newcomers, so you wouldn't be alone".

"Can I make another offer, Mr. Okada?"

Kuronuma had walked up to them, holding his sword in his right hand, his helmet still under his arm:

"Just watching won't tell Ichijou-san if he wants to join or not. Why don't I and he have a quick sparring match?"

"I don't know the rules" Daisuke said.

"No matter, we can just see who gets the most hits in a set time. That at least will give you an idea of what we do".

"Kuronuma-san, I'm not sure having a complete amateur face off against the captain of our team is a good idea" the teacher said, scratching his head.

"No, I agree with him" Daisuke said nodding to Kuronuma, "Even if I lose, at least I get a taste of the real thing".

Daisuke felt Tatsuya slap him on the back as encouragement, and while the teacher at first wasn't too pleased with the idea, he ended up agreeing. Daisuke was given a set of protections which was apparently called a "bogu" as well as a bamboo sword, letting him swing it a few times to get used to it, as it felt very different to his katana.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot" Kuronuma said once they were facing each other in the circle, "I am Shiro Kuronuma from Class 2-B and the captain of the Kendo club, nice to meet you".

"Daisuke Ichijou from 2-A. Same to you".

They both placed their helmets and readied their swords, awaiting the start of the timer that was agreed to be put at just five minutes. Daisuke could hear the other members of the club as well as Kuronuma's fanclub talking about how he had no chance, or asking why the guy who almost had won nationals by himself was fighting a beginner. Daisuke couldn't help but smirk under his mask. He wasn't going to win, that much he was pretty much certain, but he wasn't going to back out of a challenge. Looking to his side he could see Tatsuya, the only person in his corner, was talking about as much as the every one of Kuronuma's supporters put together.

"Begin!"

Daisuke took a quick first step going in for a stab that forced Kuronuma, seemingly surprised by his speed and assertiveness, to dodge to the side unable to put up an immediate counter. Kuronuma was much more experienced then he was in formal sword combat, but Daisuke had fought for his life quite a few times already and his experience in The Ghosts had given him fierce fighting instincts.

He pushed again, attempting a wild rising slash from the side, once again forcing Kuronuma to dodge backwards, this time however, he cut forward, trying to hit Daisuke's exposed shoulder, but he leaned further, avoiding the cut and replying with a counter strike that very nearly hit the head of a retreating Kuronuma.

"What is this guy?", "Wasn't he an amateur", "Shiro-san is probably just going easy on him" he kept hearing, but he couldn't let himself be distracted as he kept pushing his opponent back, forcing him to continuously dodge and not giving him a chance to shift the pace.

Kuronuma was at the edge of the circle, no place to dodge when Daisuke sent a strong and quick diagonal strike aimed at his head, when Kuronuma raised his sword to parry the blow, shifting skilfully his blade to make turn Daisuke's momentum against him, creating an opening:

"Yaah!"

Kuronuma's stab caught Daisuke on his side with enough force to hurt him and push him back despite the padded protections. A mixture of cheering and relief came from the crowd, but it soon was overturned back into concern and apprehension when while Daisuke was back stepping from the hit, he unleashed his own counter attack that caught Kuronuma by surprise, his parry unable to be completed on time, and Daisuke's sword striking the side of his helmet with force, making the captain stumble to his side, touching the place where he was struck.

"Suck it, pretty boy!" Tatsuya cheered from the back, completely impervious to the looks of disgust that were sent his way.

Daisuke attempted to take advantage of having momentarily staggered his opponent by sending a powerful vertical strike headed his way. His attack never connected however, as Kuronuma reacted faster, faster than he had until then, raising his sword once again, blocking Daisuke's strike with such force that once again the taller of the two got unbalanced, however, instead of immediately attack, Kuronuma took a step closer and slashed across Daisuke, hitting him once again, not letting him dodge or counter, immediately sending a powerful and accurate stab to the front of Daisuke's helmet, the force of which made him fall backwards, sitting on the ground as the clock buzzed signalling the end of the combat.

The cheers were the loudest he had heard yet as he looked up to Kuronuma standing in front of him, taking off his helmet and shaking his head once again, a light bruise could be seen on the cheek where Daisuke had hit him. Kuronuma walked up to Daisuke, smiling while extending his hand:

"You are quite the swordsman, Ichijou. I'll be glad if you join us".


	14. Ch14: Adding Up The Pieces

**Adding Up The Pieces**

The sky was filled with clouds, yet sun beams still fell upon the LuckyLand food plaza, as a few clients sat underneath the parasols. Among the customers were Daisuke and Tatsuya, sitting at a table near the edge of the building, with a view of the shopping district underneath. Yukino would be going back to school on the next day, however, she had told them her intention of speaking to them before she returned to class, so they had agreed to meet up with her on her parents' controversial shop.

"It's so hot…"

The two boys looked under the round table where they sat, staring at Garm whose head was poking out of Daisuke's bag. Since they had planned to meet up after school, Daisuke had went home to change out of his uniform, but also to get Garm as he had wanted to be with them to speak with Yukino. Since they had managed to sneak him out of the building once, Daisuke had theorized that he could probably sneak him back in.

"Not so loud, will ya?" Tatsuya complained looking down at Garm, "Your voice still sounds like barks to everyone else. Besides, it's not that hot".

"You try being covered in fur and inside a travel bag in this temperature" Garm replied annoyed, "This is why girls don't like you, you are too insensitive".

"Hey! What do you know about girls, you furball?" Tatsuya snapped back with a comically angry expression.

"Hey, guess who returned?"

Daisuke and Tatsuya looked up towards the voice. Riko was walking towards the table holding a drink and by her side was Yukino Yamaguchi. The dark haired girl wore a cream turtleneck sweater with a blue pattern and a plaid dark blue skirt over dark-brown stockings and calf-length leather boots.

"Hi, Ichijou-kun. Mikado-kun" she greeted with courtesy, sitting at the table next to Riko, opposite the other two.

"No need to be so formal" Tatsuya said smiling, "Tatsuya and Daisuke is fine".

"See? I told you" Riko said looking at her recently rescued friend, "We just use our first names, it's fine".

"In that case, call me Yukino" the girl said with a pleasant smile.

"Can I call you Yuuki-tan?" Tatsuya asked unashamedly.

"Yukino is fine" she responded.

Daisuke cracked a smile at her response, as well as seeing Riko's expression going from annoyed to vindicated and Tatsuya's look of utter defeat, which brought much joy to Garm.

"So, how are you feeling?" Daisuke asked, leaning forward on the table.

"Great" Yukino smiled once more, "I probably could've come back to school already, but the doctors and my parents insisted on me resting for longer".

"Man, I wish I could rest for a week or two" Tatsuya said, putting his hands behind his head.

"Do you remember anything about when you were taken?" Daisuke asked, ignoring Tatsuya's comment.

"No… I was coming home from classes. The last thing I remember is waking up when you guys found me" Yukino looked away for a moment, wincing, "I'm sorry I can't be more helpful".

"Don't sweat it" Riko exclaimed, "The important thing is that you're safe".

"Still… We can trace a connection between both victims" Daisuke said, scratching his chin.

"Oh you mean like they are both Budoga students?" Tatsuya observed.

"They are both girls too" Riko pointed out, "Anything else?"

"Oh, actually, I thought of something else" Yukino suggested, "Yumeno-senpai actually worked part time here".

"What!?" Tatsuya exclaimed loudly, "She worked at LuckyLand?"

"That makes three links between Yumeno-senpai and Yukino" Daisuke rose three fingers on his right hand, "Are there any more people who correspond to this profile?"

"Maybe… Off the top of my head I can't think of anyone else, though" Yukino said after a short while of consideration.

"Well, even then, we can't be sure if the next victim will follow the same pattern" Daisuke opined, "We foiled the last attempt by the killer, so we don't know what he'll do now. It's going to be foggy today. Let's check on the Watch and then we'll figure out what we'll do".

"That said, let's celebrate!" Riko said in a cheerful tone.

"Huh? Celebrate what?" Yukino asked, looking confused.

"Your rescue, of course!" Tatsuya responded with a grin, "It's your welcome party into the team".

Garm jumped from the bag and into the bench, between Daisuke and Tatsuya, getting on his hind legs to put something on the table: a pair of blue-rimmed glasses. Daisuke picked them up, offering them to Yukino who stared at them with what seemed to be genuine joy:

"It's like the glasses you guys used in that place! They are so cool!"

"You need them to be able to see past the fog" Garm answered, "It's your welcoming gift into the team, Empress".

Yukino placed the glasses on her face, the dark blue of the frame complimented her eyes. She took them out after a short while, folding and placing them in front of her:

"I suppose I need a weapon too, right?"

"We got ours from the antique shop" Riko told her friend, "Maybe you can get something there too".

"I guess it has to be something you can hide easily, right?" the girl with black hair inquired.

"Not really, I can safely store your weapons" Garm explained, "So anything should be fine".

"Oh! Then I want something that can crack some heads".

The way that Yukino had revealed her preferred weapon type, so matter-of-factly, had caught her new teammates by surprise, but quickly, their shock turned into laughter. As they continued to talk more and more, Daisuke really got to know more about the real Yukino: His first impressions of her had her as a shy and quiet person, but he always had the idea that she was holding back and didn't feel comfortable talking to other people. That day however, she was joking and laughing with them seemingly without a care in the world, she seemed to be particularly passionate about puns and jokes of the sort. Her Shadow's awakening had brought out her real self.

They had exited the shopping centre together, walking around the shopping district for a while. They eventually got to "Sakura Antiques" once again where the sign outside the door was still flipped to "Open".

"All of us going in at the same time would probably alarm the owner" Tatsuya said when they got to the door, "I'll go with Yuuki, you guys wait here".

"No, you'll stay here with me and Garm-chan" Riko said, grabbing Tatsuya's arm, yanking it with excessive force, "Last time we said Daisuke was the weapon enthusiast".

"Don't remind me…" Daisuke sighed.

Despite his adamant desire to never have to go through the embarrassment that was his last weapon buying trip, he, as the _de facto_ leader and "supposed weapons fan", had ended up going with Yukino inside the store. Since last time they had come in, the store owners had changed a bit of the display, some of their antique weapons were now displayed in a stand by the door. Daisuke sneaking glances at the counter, where the old lady that had greeted them last time was, and she apparently had recognized him, from the weird half-smile she gave him when Daisuke made eye-contact by accident.

"So hum… You picked something?" Daisuke asked, picking up a small traditional vase just to avoid looking at the owner or at the weapon's display.

"Hu-hum, have a look!"

Daisuke almost dropped the vase on the ground. When he had turned to look at Yukino, she was holding a long elaborate looking poleaxe, the deadliest looking weapon available, while she had the most adorable innocent smile.

"I'd like to Axe if you like it".

"Can you even swing that?" Daisuke questioned in complete befuddlement.

"Sure, I'm stronger than I look" she shifted the poleaxe from her left to her right hand, "If I'm picking a weapon, I need to be sure I can kill what I hit".

Daisuke made a sheepish smile, feeling a sweat drop on his face, however, with how excited Yukino looked, he ended up following her to the counter where she herself paid for the poleaxe, claiming she was using it to decorate her room. Daisuke felt an intense stare from the old lady, but he refused to look at anything else but the old vases or the ceiling.

When they got outside, Daisuke urged Garm to hide the axe as soon as the dog could, while Tatsuya and Riko stared in awe at Yukino: The most gentle and well behaved looking person on their group was packing both an axe and a Stand that could unleash a firestorm. Daisuke made a mental note to never annoy his new teammate.

They hung around for a bit longer, before finally, when the sun was starting to set, going their separate ways, to each of their homes. When Daisuke reached the house, the door was locked and Saeko still hadn't come back. He passed through the door, Garm following him after him, and both sat at the sofa in front of the TV. Daisuke's phone vibrated then, a text from his aunt:

 _"_ _Sorry, I'm going to be super late, eat without me."_

"Saeko-sama won't come to dinner?" Garm asked leaning to look at Daisuke's phone.

"Looks like it" Daisuke got up from the sofa, walking to the kitchen, "She did teach me some basic stuff, give me a second".

He ended up doing the simplest dish he could muster, trying not to under or overcook it. Unfortunately, it seemed like Saeko's talents were not in the family as despite his best efforts, his chicken still tasted very bland.

"Maybe you should stick to fighting" Garm advised after eating half the plate Daisuke put for him.

He sighed, washing the dishes as Garm returned to the sofa. He briefly wondered if his teammates were any good cooks. He highly doubted that Tatsuya would ever try it, he lacked the patience, and he also couldn't really see Riko's clumsy self to prep that great a meal. Maybe Yukino was a good enough cook, at least he hoped she was, because if the team ever had to cook something, Daisuke's bland tasting chicken would probably not do that well.

"Hey, that's your school right?"

Daisuke walked back onto the couch, taking a look at the TV where a boy wearing a Budoga uniform was being interviewed. The text underneath him read " _Getting to know Morioh's Art Prodigy"_. Looking at the student, Daisuke didn't recognize him: A pale and thin boy, with large brown eyes and light brown hair with a bang just over his right eye. He wore his uniform with no creeks, having his blazer closed and even wearing the tie that almost all other students didn't bother with.

" _Ryoji-kun, you received offers to go into specialized art schools in bigger cities, why did you chose to attend Budo-ga Oka"_ the reporter asked.

 _"_ _Ahm… I am very comfortable here. This is my home, so I don't really feel like moving"_ the boy avoided looking at the interviewer, his voice gave away his shyness _._

The report continued on about how Ryoji Mochizuki was a budding artist, having already won contests when he was in middle school. Apparently both of his parents were also artists, his father a sculptor, his mother a painter, and it seemed that Ryoji was following on his mother's footsteps. The report showed some of his art pieces, and, even if he wasn't all that knowledgeable about art, Daisuke couldn't help but feel impressed with his work, especially for a high school first year.

"Hey, doesn't that one look familiar?"

Daisuke looked closer to the painting that Garm was pointing out, one that was barely in the shot, seemingly unfinished, but it seemed to represent a cityscape in dark blues and greens, but with a red mist creeping over the cobblestones.

"Yeah, it's kind of like the Shadow World" Daisuke admitted.

"Could be a coincidence…" Garm suggested, even is his tone meant he thought otherwise.

"Something about it does feel off" Daisuke admitted, "But I don't believe he's the killer or working with him".

Even if had sort of downplayed what they had seen, something in his head kept telling him that somehow, Mochizuki was involved with the whole strange case. As he turned off his phone for the Watch, his mind kept trying to rationalize the painting he had seen: Either he was the killer, or he had also gotten the mysterious app to appear on his phone and had wandered into the other world by himself. Or maybe it was really just a coincidence.

He was awoke from his thoughts by the sound of static coming from his phone, signalling the start of the Dead Phone Watch. As it had happened before, the static eventually shifted into a humanoid figure, however, this time it wasn't a female, but rather a male. Even if only looking at it for a few seconds in a blurred transmission, his inner self screamed at him: It was Mochizuki.


	15. Ch15: Tagging the Artist

**Tagging the Artist**

"So, y'all saw it?"

The team had assembled on the rooftop the following morning. Yukin making her return to the school after her prolonged absence, had joined the other three, as the new member of the team. As soon as they as took their places, Yukino and Riko sitting next to each other on one of the benches, Tatsuya and Daisuke standing against the chain linked fence, they had begun discussion on the Dead Phone Watch of the previous night.

"Guess we were wrong about the killer only targeting girls" Riko said sighing, "Even if it was hard to see, I'm pretty sure it was a guy."

"He is a student here, though. He was wearing the uniform," Tatsuya pointed out, "So there is still that connection with the other targets."

Yukino, who until then had been listening with her head resting on her hands, deep in thought, raised her right hand, getting then others' attention:

"I think I may know who it is," she said, "Yesterday, when I was watching the local news, they interviewed a first-year. Thinking about it, the boy on the Watch did look a lot like him."

"You mean Ryoji Mochizuki?" Daisuke asked.

"Yes, exactly," Yukino nodded, visibly pleased that she was on the right trail, "You saw the report too?"

"Wait, hang on, who are you guys talking about?" Tatsuya intervened looking from one to the other

"He's a first year at our school. He's, apparently, a prodigy," Daisuke answered, recalling the interview that he and Garm had seen the night before, "They showed some of his paintings on the special, one of them caught my attention."

"The one with the red fog, right?" Yukino suggested, her eyes shining bright with excitement.

Daisuke nodded. If he, Garm and Yukino all had thought the same when looking at the painting, then surely there had to be something there. Upon Tatsuya and Riko's confusion, the other two made sure to fill them in, explaining to them all they had gathered from the report, simultaneously pointing out why that particular painting, with what seemed to be a landscape of the Shadow World, had garnered their attention.

"Then that means he went to the other side," pondered Tatsuya, frowning, "How else could he know what that place looks like?"

"It can still be a coincidence," Riko suggested, even if she looked clearly unconvinced herself, "I mean, even if there isn't any real life place with that sort of red fog, it's nothing that no one could ever think of, especially an artist."

"Maybe he saw the Watch?" proposed Yukino, "I mean, it's hard to see with the static, but what if he saw it for Yumeno-senpai or for me?"

Daisuke looked up, thinking: Yukino's theory could be the most likely explanation. If Mochizuki had entered the other world then he would still have been trapped there. The app had appeared mysteriously on their phone's, but they only could use it from within thanks to Garm. The only other person that could enter and leave, as far as they knew, was the Killer.

"He's in our art club, right?" Tatsuya asked after they spent a moment in silent thought, "Why don't we tag him?"

"You want to follow him around?" Riko gave him a weird look, "What if he sees us?"

"He's sorta famous now, we can just say we recognized him from TV" he suggested, "We can say we wanted to ask him if we could see his paintings. Also, even if he sees us, maybe being followed around might get him on edge about the killer".

"You want to scare him into running away from the killer…?" Daisuke ended up saying, furrowing his brow.

"Well, you didn't do that good a job at warning Yukino did you, Leader?" Tatsuya grumbled, taking his phone from his pocket to check the time, "Damn, it's getting late. I don't know till how late the art club meets. Maybe they don't even meet today at all".

Just then, Daisuke felt his phone vibrating indicating a new text message. He took it off his pocket, and slid his finger on the screen to check its contents seeing that it was from Shiro Kuronuma: The kendo captain was asking him if he'd make it to practice. Even if the practice was good, especially against a skilled opponent like Kuronuma, the thought of compromising a team operation and risking another death was weighing on him.

"It will be foggy for the next few days, but it won't rain so soon," Riko said, grabbing back Daisuke's attention, "Let's go home for now. Tomorrow, we can try out Tatsu's idea."

Tatsuya nodded in agreement, as did Yukino, and the three of them looked expectantly at Daisuke, who stepped away from the fence, finishing writing a quick response to Kuronuma, before storing back his phone:

"Ok, seems like we have a plan," he said checking in with the others, looking from one to the other, "We'll follow him, to see if he does anything suspicious."

Agreeing on meeting up again, they left the rooftop, as they went back across the school's corridors, Daisuke saying goodbye to his friends for the day and splitting from the group to walk towards the practice building. Next to the entrance, Kuronuma waiting for him, like he said he would, leaning against the wall: He wore his uniform in a very similar way to Daisuke, with blazer opened and untucked shirt, however, he wore the uniform's black tie loosely around his neck

"Good morning, Daisuke." Kuronuma greeted with a large smile. He almost always smiled like that, a smile that seemed both extremely sincere and innocent, but with a hint of mischievousness.

"Mornin', Shiro," the taller of the two responded with a friendly wave, "You were waiting for me?"

"Yes, indeed." Kuronuma stepped away from the wall, adjusting the strap on his school bag, "Although it may pain our other colleagues to hear me say this, I'd rather practice with you from now on."

Daisuke made an inquisitive frown, which made Kuronuma chuckle, placing one of his hands on the other youth's shoulder:

"It's been a while since I actually had to try when I've had matches with the other club members, yet you, a novice, not only made me have to pay attention and fight to my fullest, but you managed to hit me." His words had an arrogant tint, but his voice didn't show any emotion of the sort, "I must ask, however: you lied didn't you? That was not the first time you used a sword, was it?"

 _Not for Kendo, it wasn't_ , Daisuke thought, analysing the expression on his companion's eyes: "I'm sorry, but I was telling the truth, that was the first time I actually have had any sort of kendo practice," he said, not lying by what was, in truth, a technicality.

"Somehow I doubt that, but fine, have it your way," Shiro had himself a short laugh, "Come on then, we're going to be late if we don't hurry."

...

"Oh man this is so weird…"

Riko's words expressed Daisuke's feelings quite well, as the four team members waited outside of the school's gate, as they watched the other students leave at the end of the last period. Apparently, the art club wouldn't be meeting that day, so Mochizuki should be exiting the school at around the same time as most other students.

Before he had fell asleep the night before, Daisuke had once more checked on the Watch, and once again, the strange phenomenon had displayed a distorted image of who they thought was Ryoji Mochizuki. The image had been blurry and full of static, which told them that Mochizuki was still outside the Otherworld: They could still stop him from being abducted.

"Hey, that's him right?"

Tatsuya pointed towards a scrawny kid with brown hair exiting the school holding what seemed to be a large sketchbook on his right hand as he walked down the street, looking over his shoulder a few times while he was walking.

"Jeez, he seems paranoid," Riko mumbled, as they watched him make his way down the street.

"Maybe he saw himself on the Watch," Daisuke suggested, starting to walk forward and down the hill, "I think I'd be on the lookout if I say myself on it."

"Aw crap!"

Tatsuya sudden, almost falsetto, outburst caught Daisuke by surprise, making him and the girls jump in place, as all three turned to look at Tatsuya who was holding onto his phone with a nervous, panicked expression.

"What happened?" Daisuke asked.

"Huh? Oh…" Tatsuya scratched his head nervously, his face reddening, "Nothing, I just got a text from the bank about my aham… credit status. I got a bit carried away with my purch-"

"Are you taking the piss?" Daisuke said with a comically annoyed expression, "Mochizuki probably heard…"

Daisuke's sentence trailed off as he turned around, looking onto the street below where there was no sign of Mochizuki anywhere. He had vanished. Immediately the other three team members shot annoyed and unfriendly looks towards Tatsuya. Riko closed the gap between them and slapped him on the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for!?"

"You made us lose, Ryoji-kun, you moron!" Riko complained with a scowl.

"He can't have gone far," Tatsuya protested, rubbing his head where Riko had savagely hit him, "We can probably still catch up to him. Let's split up and find him."

"Fine," Daisuke said, still very much on edge at Tatsuya. He looked at Yukino by his side, "Let's go, Yukino. We'll check on the west side."

Yukino nodded in agreement, as the two of them broke into a fast walk down the street that led from the school to the rest of town, the sound of Riko and Tatsuya bickering still very much audible for a few more steps. The street that led into the school eventually would end up reaching the main plaza down below, however, if Mochizuki had continued through there then they would've still have been able to see him from where they were, so he would've either gone into the shopping district, or had went into the west side, where most residential areas were, as well as the hospital and the shrine.

Daisuke and Yukino went westward, amongst the streets lined with houses. Even from far away, the shrine was visible, atop a small hill, with steps leading up to it, and farther away, was the hospital, the large white building was surely the biggest one in town, being at least a few floors taller than LuckyLand. Looking at it, he thought momentarily about his aunt, wondering if she was still at work.

They had turned a corner in their brisk pace when finally they had seen him: Mochizuki walking along, still clutching his sketchbook. Daisuke leaned against the wall looking over the corner to check on Mochizuki who had briefly stopped, kneeling down to tie his shoe laces.

"Something about him seems off, doesn't it?" Daisuke ended up asking in a low voice.

"I don't know, I've always heard that artists tend to be a bit strange," Yukino opined, in her usual curious tone, "But I guess he does seem, ah… 'anxious' maybe?"

Daisuke nodded, pushing off the wall and going after Ryoji, Yukino following right behind him. Mochizuki turned farther west, towards the shrine as they kept tagging him. Daisuke felt his curiosity burn inside him as they kept going after the boy: Why was he going to the shrine? It just seemed like a strange place for someone to go to, right after school in a random weekday.

"Mochizuki-kun!"

Daisuke cursed in his mind, holding Yukino's arm, stopping her from going forward, pulling her towards him and the wall, keeping themselves hidden. He looked around the corner, watching as two other students appeared from behind the wall at the shrine's entrance: One of them much taller than the other, perhaps as tall as Daisuke, but also wider with broad shoulders and a large round nose and short hair, while the other one, smaller than even Mochizuki, had mousy hair and a peculiar smile. Even if he couldn't see the pin in their jacket that showed their grade, he assumed them both to be first years.

"Hum... Daisuke-kun?"

Daisuke looked away from the three first years and back to Yukino, seeing her blushing, embarrassed expression made him realise that he was still holding her against him. He let go immediately, his face becoming as red as hers, the two of them trading embarrassed looks.

"Hey! This isn't nearly enough!"

The two of them were brought back to their mission when they heard the loud voice. They leaned together over the street corner to see the boy with mousy haired snapping at Mochizuki: "This is only like half of what we asked for!"

"I-I-I'm sorry, Sakaki-kun," Mochizuki mumbled, cowering, "I tried to sell some paintings, but…"

"It's always 'But' with you, isn't it, Mochizuki?" Sakaki snapped once again, giving his taller friend a glance, before looking back at his victim, "We had a deal hadn't we? You paid us, and no one made fun of you or beat you up. Your parents have money, why don't you take it?"

"I can't!" Mochizuki said, desperate, "You know I can't."

"You better realise you can," Sakaki signalled his partner, "Show him what happens when he doesn't listen, Odagiri".

The bigger of the two nodded taking a step forward, grabbing a cowering Mochizuki's shoulder with his large hands, cocking his fist backwards to punch him.

"Hey!"

Daisuke stepped away from the wall, approaching the other three by the shrine's entrance, immediately their eyes being drawn to him:

"Wha-What!? Who the hell are you!?" Sakaki shouted, giving him a nasty look, "This has nothing to do with you, you hear me?" He turned back to his companion, "What are you waiting for!? Beat him up!"

Odagiri nodded, gripping Mochizuki harder. Daisuke had broken into a run then, his school bag falling on the ground behind him as he leapt forward, shoulder first, crashing into the largest of the two bullies, making him lose his grip on Mochizuki and fall with a large thud. Sakaki shouted in a shrill voice and Mochizuki, now free from the grasp of his tormentor had taken a few steps back, ending up tripping and falling on his backside.

"Oy, Mochizuki," Daisuke said, looking behind him, "Get back. I'll take care of it".

Odagiri stood back up with a speed that surprised Daisuke, taking a strong step towards him and throwing a violent punch with his right arm. Daisuke managed to dodge, but just barely, jumping to the side quickly, dodging the follow-up punches and hitting back his opponent with a fast kick, forcing him to back off and put his hands up in a protective stance. Daisuke shot a look back to see that Mochizuki had picked his sketchbook of the ground and was now standing a few meters back, next to Yukino, who was waiting expectantly, trying to decide if she should try to help Daisuke or not.

"Stay back," Daisuke called out, looking forwards once again to the duo of bullies, "I haven't had a good fight in a while."

"You bastard, how dare you!?" Sakaki screeched from behind his bigger partner, "No one messes with us!"

Daisuke took the initiative, not wasting his time with a retort, trying to catch his opponent off his guard, managing to get two quick hits in, before having to step off to dodge a devastating counter-attack. Odagiri didn't just look tough, he was indeed quite resilient, managing to shrug off quite a few of his upperclassman's strikes. However, Daisuke was faster and has a lot more experience fighting than his opponent who would mostly prey on defenceless victims and not have to actually fight. Daisuke kept pushing him back until the thug tried to head-butt him, but once again, Daisuke slid out of the way, kicking in response, pushing back his opponent.

He felt a smile creeping into his face that he couldn't control. Even if he continued to claim he was working towards rehabilitation, fighting still gave him a rush. He was facing two opponents by himself, but he was not intimidated at all, in a way, he was enjoying it: Those were small town punks that preyed on weak kids like Mochizuki, they had nothing on someone who had fought much tougher in S-City gang fights.

Sakaki tried to sneak in a strike, jumping from behind his partner, forcing Daisuke to have to dodge both of the duo's strikes, but Sakaki overextended, his attack had missed, and missed by a lot, creating an opening that Daisuke was trained to use. He grabbed the smaller opponent's wrists, pulling him towards his forearm for a strike on the head, that left him stunned, enough for Daisuke to shove him away into a wall, where he slid down into the ground slumped.

The largest of his opponents was taken aback by his companions forced break, his distraction being immediately capitalized on by Daisuke that charged into him again, alternating his strikes, forcing his adversary into backing away slowly against a wall, not giving him a chance at a counter.

Odagiri tried to overpower him just as he felt the wall behind him. He pushed himself forward, but Daisuke's devilish smile flared once again, as he stepped aside, leaving a foot behind to strike the shins of his adversary, making him hunch forward in pain, losing his balance and exposing him to a violent hit to the face with a closed hand. Odagiri fell against the wall, holding his bloated and bleeding nose with mumbled cries of pain.

Sakaki rushed towards his partner in crime, helping him up, shooting a leer at Daisuke who still stood in front of the shrine, as he watched them huddled away, shouting threats that sounded completely unconvincing. Daisuke watched them disappear on the corner of the street before he turned to look back at Yukino and Mochizuki, both still staring at him, the latter with a mixture of gratitude, awe and concern.

"You okay?" Daisuke asked, picking up his own bag, dusting it off.

"I'm fine," Mochizuki mumbled, avoiding meeting Daisuke's gaze, "Thank you."

"You're Ryoji Mochizuki-kun, aren't you?" Yukino asked the younger student, while she walked back to Daisuke's side.

"Yeah, that's me…" Ryoji kept avoiding looking at the other two, preferring to instead stare at his feet or at somewhere behind the other two, "I'm sorry, but… ah, I really need to go, my parents are waiting for me."

"Hey, just let us ask you something" Daisuke said, his step forward, ended up making Mochizuki almost jump in place.

"I-I really need to go, I'm sorry" he took a brisk pace, walking past the other two and turning a corner past the shrine, "Thank you again!"

They could hear the sound of his fast walk turning into a run as he got farther and farther away from them. Daisuke sighed, holding his head, cursing in his lack of luck and tact: Once again his plan to warn a potential victim had backfired spectacularly, not only that, he had once again gotten in a street fight. Even if this one was for a good reason, he couldn't help but feel ashamed of how eager he had been to get in and how much he had enjoyed the familiar feeling of a street fight.

"Hey" he felt Yukino's warm hand touching his arm, "We should meet back up with the others."

Daisuke nodded in agreement, following her past the shrine's entrance. The Shrine had a stone pavement that lead to its centre, with old but well sculpted statues lining the sides. A small pond had a few fishes swimming in it next to the box where offerings were placed. A few stone benches were also placed next to the central pavement. Thankfully, the shrine was deserted at that time, which meant that Daisuke's fight just before had no witnesses besides those that were involved in it. He threw himself into one of the benches, leaning back into it, trying not to think about a new failure, while Yukino stood in front of him for a while, talking on the phone with Riko, telling her and Tatsuya to come and meet up with them at the shrine. After ending the call, she walked back to Daisuke's side, adjusting her uniform skirt before sitting next to him:

"He knows about the Dead Phone Watch." She said.

"Huh?" Daisuke pulled himself back into a regular sitting position, looking at his companion, "What?"

"I think so, anyway," Yukino said, looking at him, her dark-grey eyes focused and alert, more than she usually was in her usual playful self, "He seemed kind of 'confused' when he saw me. I think he may have seen my Shadow in the Watch."

"That would explain the painting…" Daisuke looked up to the cloudy sky, "Guess it wasn't a complete waste then."

They sat in silence for a while, awaiting the arrival of their friends. Daisuke kept looking distractedly at either the sky or to anything he could look to in the shrine, be it the statues, the pond, even the few insects that flew from side to side. Yukino herself also remained quiet for a while, even if she did shoot one or other sideways glance at him, like she wanted to talk, but wanted him to initiate the conversation. After a while, she ended up sighing:

"Riko told me about your Shadows," she said, looking at her feet, "About hers, Tatsuya's, yours… Don't be mad at her, I was the one who asked" she hesitated a bit, waiting for Daisuke to talk, but as he continued to stare blankly ahead she continued, "I know why you are upset. You're scared you enjoyed fighting them too much, right?"

"Yeah..." he exhaled, "I regret my time with the Ghosts, but my Shadow made me realize that I like fighting too much. And I'm scared of what that may lead to." He looked to Yukino once more, they maintained eye contact for a few seconds, before Daisuke turned away again, "When I'm fighting it's like I stop worrying about anything all of a sudden. That's why I don't like you guys to call me your Leader."

"You think that you will end up putting us in risk," she concluded with sadness in her voice. She tapped rhythmically on the bench for a few seconds, thinking to herself, before once again speaking: "I trust in you".

"Huh?"

"You're scared about losing focus and putting us in danger, but when you guys were fighting my Shadow, you kept telling the others what to do. You weren't just worried with defeating the enemy, you were protecting your friends and fighting with them. Besides, you saved me".

She smiled with her eyes closed, as if to reaffirm her trust in him. He still felt conflicted. That confrontation, although brief and one-sided, had reawakened feelings within him. But he wasn't fighting for himself anymore. He had people he wanted to protect now. Riko, Tatsuya, Yukino... They were all important to him and he knew that, if he ever needed it, they would stop him from becoming the person he feared he could be.

Looking back to Yukino, he smiled at her.


	16. Ch16: Mausoleum Museum

**Mausoleum Museum:**

 _"_ _Welcome esteemed guests to the opening of Master Ryoji Mochizuki's new exhibit."_

Amidst the static and the fog, Ryoji Mochizuki's shadow was visible. He wore elaborate, clothes that seemed to date back to a Renaissance period, a green and gold doublet, as well as a golden necklace and rich looking rings. On his head he wore a black beret with a white feather, and his eyes shone with the golden glow of the Shadows. It was hard to not look at his getup and not think of him, or at least his shadow, as pompous. He was standing at the entrance of what seemed to be a very large building, illuminated with bright yellow and blue lights, strong enough to be seen even past the red fog.

 _"_ _I'd love to see the looks on the populace's faces when they are confronted with the true beauty that they sought to deny,"_ The shadow continued, _"My work awaits me."_

The final Dead Phone Watch for Mochizuki had arrived at the midnight, as Friday gave way to Saturday. The group had spent the last few days keeping tabs on Mochizuki's activities after school. They had tried to tail him again, this time mainly Riko and Tatsuya, for fear that Daiuske and Yukino would be recognized, but even then, he had disappeared, dragged into the other world.

"Hey, I'm here."

Garm had appeared from the street corner, the small dog arriving to meet up with the other four, who had been waiting for him. They had agreed to meet up there, in the street next to Owson, their regular gateway into the other world. They still wore their uniforms, there really wasn't much of a point to go back and change into other clothes. Even if the rain wouldn't come for a few more days, delaying their rescue attempt could prove disastrous. They would go in and rescue him on that Saturday and then they could rest on Sunday.

"Ok, everyone ready?" Riko asked, taking her phone from the pocket of her orange hoodie, as the others huddled together, "'Operation: Rescue Ryoji' begins now."

She pressed on the app and the familiar, but still blinding light greeted them, pulling them away from their own world, and into the dark, damp streets, filled with red, toxic fog. Looking up, Daisuke could see the full moon once again. It seemed like there wasn't any sort of time of day besides a deep night during a full moon in that world. In a way it would make sense, that place would strange in the daylight.

Daisuke put on his pair of glasses, seeing the rest of his teammates do the same, Yukino, trying them on in that world for the first time, was visibly surprised and amazed, and immediately went to congratulate Garm on his 'craftsdogship'. Garm then used his powers to materialize the group's weapons: Riko's kusarigama, Tatsuya's hunting nata, Yukino's poleaxe and Daisuke's katana. It had been a while since he had used his steel sword, and he was starting to feel once again the weight difference between it and the bamboo one he had been using for kendo practice. He hoped that when it came time to use it again, his muscle memory would adapt to the difference.

"So, you know where he is?" Tatsuya asked Garm.

"Hum… I think I can sense something," the canine said, sniffing at the air, "But it's harder to tell exactly."

"You mean his farther away than Yukino was?" Riko asked, crouching next to Garm.

"No, I don't think it's that, he's here, it's just…" Garm looked down, thinking, before looking back up, "I think there is a stronger Shadow presence that is messing with my senses."

"More Shadows?" Tatsuya asked, sighing, "That's not good at all."

"It doesn't matter," Daisuke said, touching his friend's shoulder with his free hand, starting to walk forward, "We can take 'em."

"Wow, Daisuke-kun, you really are starting to grow into the Leader role, aren't you?" Riko complimented, standing back up.

"Ok, I got something," Garm said, perking up, wiggling his tail, "Follow me."

The black dog took off then, running along the street, the other four following close behind him. Even if their glasses could clear the fog up as they got close to it, it wasn't gone, not completely, it still appeared in the distance, at the end of every street they passed by. Even as they got more used to it, that dreadful atmosphere was still going to continue to put them on edge.

"Watch out, Shadows!" Tatsuya warned, opening his arms to make the others stop.

He pointed forward, where a group of quadruped Shadows, like the ones that had attacked Daisuke on his first day, were shambling about, a loud clicking noise coming from underneath their masks.

"Can't we fight them?" Yukino proposed, holding her poleaxe closer to her.

"We shouldn't just fight every shadow," Daisuke answered her, keeping his sword at the ready, in case the Shadows caught scent of them, "We'll tire out before we have a chance to find Mochizuki."

Yukino nodded, signalling she understood, and Garm changed direction, taking into a smaller street on the side, before, further ahead, and turning back to the same direction they had been going to before. It was hard to fully discern where they were in the real Morioh, as the state of decay and the darkness made it hard to relate between the two worlds, however, it seemed that the Shadow World's layout was much more maze like than the real town. Daisuke didn't recall there being so many narrow streets interconnected with each other in the whole town, let alone in that area alone.

They had to change their course once more, when encountering another large contingent of Shadows before, finally, Garm stopped. They had just come of another street much like the others, but they could not see anything out of the ordinary until they had exited it. Now that they were there, finally it appeared: A very large three story tall building in a style reminiscent of old European buildings, with extremely elaborate walls and pillars, lit up by strong light: It was undoubtedly, the Museum they had seen on the Dead Phone Watch. Exploring it fully would take a long time.

"It's gigantic," Riko complained in a low voice, "How can we find him there?"

"Forget about finding him…" Tatsuya pointed forward, "How do we get in?"

During their last mission, the entrance to Yukino's Pyramid was wide open. Once they were inside, they had been ambushed by an enormous amount of Shadows, but their path was still a straight forward one. The door to Ryoji's Museum however was closed, with what seemed to be security guards in dark green suits holding stun batons next to it. A closer look revealed that the security guards were indeed Shadows, marked by their screen-like skin and the blood-red theatre mask in front of their face, making a strong contrast with their clothing.

Daisuke looked around, analysing the wall that was built around the Museum. They couldn't climb over it, that much was clear, there were no indentations and even if it wasn't too tall, they couldn't get a grip. However, it wasn't high enough that they couldn't find a way to get over it. He remembered how back in the Pyrammid, Tatsuya's Stand had been able to create a pulse that shot Tatsuya up and over Shadow Yukino's golden sphynx.

"You think you can use Starsailor to make us jump over?" Daisuke asked, looking at Tatsuya and pointing to the wall, far from the door and the guards.

"Huh?" Tatsuya followed the direction that his partner pointed too, "Oh. Yeah, maybe. But we don't know what's on the other side."

"We'll worry about that when we get there," Daisuke said, even if he also wasn't that confident about it, "The more time we wait, the worse."

They moved fast, as stealthily as they could, walking on the edge of the area, next to the houses that had not been absorbed into the museum. The pyramid had taken the place of LuckyLand, as that was Yukino's cognition of the place: Her empire's core, but also her tomb. However, Ryoji's cognition seemed to not affect just his house (what Daisuke thought it was originally), but quite a large neighbourhood. Could that be related to that larger Shadow presence that Garm detected? Was it that Shadow Ryoji was that much more powerful than Shadow Yukino, or was it something else entirely?

They had reached the wall, still far away from the Shadow Guards. Even if Shadows seemed to not have much difficulty in seeing past the fog and the dark, they were still far enough away that they could still be hard to see, giving them an opportunity.

"Well, here goes nothing," Tatsuya said, taking a deep breath, "Take us higher, Starsailor."

His Stand emerged from him, his metallic components reflecting the light that came from the abnormal Moon and from the building. The group huddled together as Starsailor created a pulse of gravitational energy that shot them directly up, and over the wall. As they rose and later started, Daisuke could feel the air shifting around him and his teammates, as they desperately held onto to each other. As they were still in the air, they could see a garden on the other side only for a second before they were pulled back down, fast.

"Santigold!"

Riko's harpy-like Stand appeared below them, flapping her long, powerful wings, creating a gust of wind that deaccelerated the group as they were brought back down into a safer landing, Riko managing to stand on her feet, while the others stumbled, Daisuke even tripping and falling forward, catching himself before he smacked face first into the grass.

"It actually worked!" Tatsuya cheered, laughing like he couldn't believe it.

Daisuke got back to his feet, supporting himself on his sword. He looked around: They were in an outside exhibit, with sculptures and paitings placed in pedestals among trees and expensive looking flowers. The sculptures all had the same subject: Mochizuki. Even if in reality he seemed to have self-confidence issues, his Shadow was very much the opposite.

"Intruders!"

They had been too loud. The voice had been the distorted and otherworldly sounding but it didn't belong to a Shadow. He could see them then, all along the exhibit were translucent, hologram like people. They didn't have eyes or mouths, their faces were completely blank, but their body language made them appeared as terrified as they started to back away from the intruders. Men, women and children, even if they couldn't see their faces, they could still discern their body shapes, and their rich clothing, akin to the elaborate renaissance style clothes that they had seen Shadow Ryoji wear in his Watch. Daisuke could hear their voices: "Guards! Guards!", "Burglars!", "They've come to rob Master Mochizuki!"

"Shit… What is this?" Tatsuya asked, looking around, "Ghosts?"

"These are Mochizuki's cognitions," Garm said, lowering himself into a fighting stance, "They aren't Shadows but—"

"There they are!" A battalion of the Guards in green suits appeared from inside the building, and some of them from the edges of the garden. Their batons emitted strong sparks as they got into their battle positions.

"And here I wanted to be stealthy," Daisuke complained, as he saw a few of the guards charge at them, "Heed my call! Lazarus!"

His Stand emerged from the sea of his soul, dark blue coat floating behind it, as the spectral knight formed a large broadsword of glass in its hands. It swung the sword in front of it in a large arc, slashing and smashing past three of the Shadows in a clean strike, only green fabric and black smoke remaining of them.

 _I'm getting stronger_ , Daisuke thought with a wicked smile appearing on his face, his smug and battle-hungry inner self showing through. Daisuke charged forward, letting Lazarus slash past another bunch of Shadows before returning, while Daisuke dodge a baton strike aimed at his head, replying with a sword strike of his own. It wasn't enough to down the Shadow completely however, as the humanoid creature tried to retaliate. The Shadow's strike never landed however, as it was shot into the air by a powerful and violent gust of cutting wind. Daisuke saw Santigold beating her wings, as Riko ran towards him.

"Good job, Riko!" He gave her a thumbs up.

He saw as Tatsuya also rushed to meet him, pushing Shadows out of his way with Starsailor's gravity pulses, as well as with knife strikes. Even if his weapon had the shortest range, Tatsuya's fast improving skill and his natural speed and athleticism let him use it to its fullest potential. Yukino and Garm came from behind them, the Empress still yet to unleash her Stand. Daisuke saw then as one of the Shadow Guards was coming up behind her, ready to strike.

"Lazarus!"

He wouldn't have enough time to reach her. Lazarus was fast, but not fast enough to cover the distance and attack first. What he was, however, was strong and highly accurate. He threw glass shards that cut past the foggy air, hitting the Shadow Guard, the combined force of the shards throwing it away from Yukino, as it started to disintegrate into the mist. Yukino looked from the disappearing Shadow to Daisuke with shock in her dark-grey eyes.

"Keep your eyes open," he told her, going to her side, sword still at the ready, "You can't hold back or they'll kill you!"

Daisuke opened his eyes wide as Yukino raised her axe. _What are you-?_ He didn't finish his thought as Yukino jumped towards him, striking with her poleaxe in a powerful vertical slash. He had jumped to the side, but he wouldn't have to, the strike would've still passed to his left, after all it wasn't intended for him, but to the Shadow Guard that had appeared behind him: Yukino's strike had bisected him clean in half.

"Keep your eyes open. You can't hold back or they'll kill you!" She said in a mocking tone, smiling at him.

Daisuke couldn't help reddening up, but he quickly moved on, having to raise his sword to block a strike from a baton, summoning Lazarus to counter-attack, shanking his assailant, freeing himself.

"They keep coming!" Tatsuya shouted, "We can't stay here!"

"We need to get inside the museum," Daisuke said.

"Let me try it!" Yukino stepped in front of him, and facing the side entrance where there still were a line of Shadows awaiting them, "I am thou!"

Yukino had swiped at air in front of her with her free left hand, blue flames surrounding it and from within her, her Stand appeared: A slender witch with violet skin in a dark blue and black dress decorated with feathers and thin ribbon-like strips. The cyan hair was mostly hidden by the large witch's hat.

"Dance, Arabella!"

The Stand raised both hands and fire erupted from them, light blue flames that were as hot and deadly as they were beautiful. In a swift elegant motion, it joined its hands in front of itself, and the flames were sent forth like a powerful flame thrower, decimating whatever was in front of it. If the poleaxe wasn't sign enough, even if Yukino looked fragile, she was amongst the deadliest of the team. Daisuke felt a sweat drop across his face: _And here I was worried about her._

"Keep going, Yuuki!" Riko cheered.

"Torch 'em up, Yukino-san!" Tatsuya added.

"Hurry inside," Garm warned, "We need to move!"

Yukino ceased her fire attack, revealing the large black burn marks she had left carved into the building. Of the shadows however, there was no sign; they had been completely destroyed, not even ash was left of them. Yukino stumbled, her attack had been too intense, especially for her first time actually using her Stand. Daisuke immediately rushed to her, using his left arm to support her, helping her walk into the side entrance, Riko and Garm ahead of them, and Tatsuya behind them. They managed to pass into a large corridor with paintings on all sides, a few them were burned from Arabella's flame attack and had fallen carbonized on the ground.

"Push them away, Sailor!" Tatsuya spun around as he passed the door, slashing the air with his dagger.

His Stand appeared to create a new gravity sphere just outside the door, generating a strong pulse that pushed back any Guard that tried to get close to the door. Tatsuya fell backwards against the wall, dead tired, as Daisuke passed by him, summoning Lazarus, creating a resilient glass structure inside the hole where there used to be a door. That glass was much stronger than his regular sharp blades, it would hold the Shadows on the other side for a long time.

They could hear the Shadows screech and scream on the outside, but as far as that corridor, they seemed to be safe. It was like the entirety of the museum's west wing's Shadow Guards or, at least, the ones on that floor, had been driven to them. They had been either eliminated, or were now completely barred on the outside, incapable of maintaining pursuit. Regular Shadows would come back, but for now, they were safe.

Daisuke pushed himself against one of the walls, sliding into sitting down, breathing heavy. He could see his teammates were just as tired as he was, Riko was leaning against the same wall, Yukino was sitting down, Garm leaning against her and Tatsuya had thrown himself on the floor, with arms and legs spread wide:

"Making us fight a whole bloody army…" Tatsuya complained, "When we find Mochizuki, I'm gonna beat the shit out of him…"

"If we can find him," Daisuke said pessimistic, standing back, pushing himself against the wall, "Garm, can you tell where he is?"

Garm sniffed at the air for a few moments, then hunkering down and smelling the floor, before his ears perked up again, "He's underground."

"Underground?" Riko asked, pulling back on her kusarigama's chain, to hold it together with the scythe on her right hand, "But isn't this a museum or an art gallery of some kind?"

"I guess he could be on an underground floor for some extra special exhibit," Suggested Tatsuya, getting back up, "Can 'cognations', or whatever that is, even do that?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself," Garm said, his ears lowering, "But I'm certain that's where he is. And there are more shadows waiting."

"Oh, great..." Tatsuya made a resigned smile, walking to Daisuke and punching his shoulder, "If we die saving him, I will kill the bastard."

A sudden fit of laughter was heard on the corridor and they both turned to look for its source, finding Yukino giggling by herself, leaning on her poleaxe, "You can't kill him if you're dead, Tatsuya-kun!"

They stared at her confused for a bit, until they both started to laugh, as did Riko, not because of Tatsuya's terrible attempt at humour, but because of how over the top and yet honest, Yukino's reaction had been to it. Garm leaned to the side with a curious expression:

"I'll never understand you humans."

Feeling refreshed, even if only mentally, Daisuke signalled the others to follow him, as he put his sword on his shoulder:

"Ok. Let's get going."


	17. Ch17: Shrouded Star

**Shrouded Star:**

As they walked through the corridor, Daisuke couldn't help but notice the paintings that lined the walls. Like what happened with the sculptures in the garden, the subject of almost all of them was Mochizuki in various rich outfits and in various poses. There were still a few regular paintings of landscapes scattered around them. He wondered if those were Mochizuki's real paintings, while the self-portraits were made by the Shadow.

They didn't talk for a while. Even if most, if not all the Shadows on that side of the building had flocked to the courtyard, there was still the chance that they could find another wandering the halls.

"Damn it, Ghosts."

Daisuke looked around the corner where Tatsuya was already at. It led to another corridor, much like the one where they already were. However, this one wasn't empty, but it was full of the strange ghost like apparitions that they had seen on the courtyard before.

"What should we do?" Riko asked, looking to the others, "If we fight that many Shadows at the same time again we'll lose for sure."

"I don't think they will bother us," Garm said, stepping around the corner, as if to illustrate his point, "They aren't Shadows. They aren't really 'alive'."

"But they alerted the Shadows before," Daisuke remembered, furrowing his brow.

"Because they saw your Stands. You aren't really a part of this world, but your Stands are," the dog explained nodding his head to give further meaning to his words, "As long as we act like regular museum visitors, we're gonna be fine."

"Ah… Garm-san?" Yukino called, as she saw him move further into the corridor, "Dogs aren't usually welcome in museums."

Garm paid her no mind as he continued further into the corridor, the ghost-like humans ignored him as he continued on, they seemed to be completely engrossed by the paintings. Daisuke traded a look with his comrades and, with a shrug, he followed behind Garm, and, just like his canine companion, the Cognitions seemed to act like he wasn't there. Even the weapons in full view didn't seem to trigger anything in the crowds. They seemed to look straight through them.

"This is super creepy…" Tatsuya commented, waving in front of one of the apparitions, but once again, it stared right past him, "Feels like we're in a horror film or some shit."

"I actually saw one similar to this a few weeks ago," Riko began to say, "It was called-"

"Don't!" Tatsuya intervened loudly, "I don't want to hear it!"

"You really are a scaredy-cat, aren't you?" Riko said with a sly smile, much like the one that Tatsuya used to give.

"Hey, focus!" Garm said, turning back to look at them, "Shadows can still hear you, you know?"

The other two went silent, with embarrassed expressions, before they continued to walk forward. At the end of the corridor, much shorter than the other, they reached what seemed to be the main hall of the Museum. It was a very large open room, with a big highly ornamented stone fountain in the centre. Large, rich banners hung around in multiple colours where the name "Mochizuki" was written in kanji and in alphabetical writing.

Several Cognition phantoms were visible in the hall, however, more important than them were the guards in the green suits that walked among them with their stun batons. Looking up, Daisuke could see stairways into the upper floors which, like the one where they were at, also seemed to be mostly comprised of corridors on the sides, while the centre of the building was mostly open all the way into the ceiling from where a large and intricate chandelier, with hundreds of small glass ornaments were placed, was hung from.

"How do we go underground?" Yukino asked. "The staircases only go up, not down."

"There must be a passage somewhere," Daisuke suggested, "There was nothing on this side, maybe there is some sort of door that can lead us down on the other corridor."

"Problem is… How do we pass to the other side?" Tatsuya questioned, "There's… one, two… five… ten… At least fifteen or so Shadows here. Even if we use 'Sailor or Santigold to go quickly from one side to the other, there's probably a ton more Shadows on the other side, and we'll be cornered."

They stayed in silent thought for a while: Tatsuya was right. Even if Daisuke's hypothesis that the passage to the underground floors was somewhere on the other side, they would have to fight wave after wave of Shadows again. They would most likely have to fight against Mochizuki's Shadow, so even if they survived being overrun by Shadows again, they would be handicapping them even more for that decisive battle.

After a bit, Riko smiled, pointing upwards: "Hey, how heavy do you think that chandelier is?"

"Very heavy, I'd assume," Tatsuya answered, before he opened his eyes wide, "You want to cut it loose?"

"We don't know if there really is a passage on the other side," Riko argued, "But if we use the chandelier to open a hole on the ground floor…"

"That sounds really risky…" Daisuke countered, looking at the structure, "But it's not like we're that good on ideas."

"I am detecting your friend's presence somewhere below us. I think Strength's idea just might work," Garm said, "There definitely is a room underneath this hall."

"So… How do we bring it down then?" Yukino asked, looking over her shoulder to the chandelier, and then to Tatsuya, "Can you pull it down, Tatsuya-kun?"

"I doubt it," Tatsuya shook his head, "I think it's too heavy for my Stand, at least, for now."

"We're too far away to cut down the chain from down here with Santigold or Lazarus," Daisuke opined, "But maybe if I can get up there, I can break it." Daisuke looked around the room. There were pillars holding up the different floors. Lazarus glass claws could potentially allow him to climb up on them, but he would be exposed. "Ok. I think I got it. We'll make a run for that pillar there," he pointed to a pillar near the room's centre, the closes to the chandelier, "Tatsuya, you push me up as high as you can and then I'll climb the rest of the way. Meanwhile, you guys keep the Shadows busy while I break the chandelier's chain."

"This is going to be a disaster…" Tatsuya sighed. A cocky smile than flared on his face, "Let's do it!"

They took into a fast walk that went into a run as the first of the Guards saw them, shouting to the others. They approached the group but got thrown backwards by Riko's wind blasts, as she stayed slightly behind to deal with their pursuers, while Yukino went further ahead, summoning her Stand once more, this time however, Arabella threw balls of fire at approaching targets instead of the much more energy consuming continuous flame attack.

"Ok, here we go," Daisuke said, standing in front of the pillar, "Throw me up!"

Tatsuya nodded and he summoned Starsailor, the Stand generating a powerful energy pulse that he sent just underneath Daisuke's feet. He closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath: _This is gonna suck_. Immediately he felt sick, like all his internal organs had been rearranged, being thrown into the air at an incredible speed, being pushed with much more force than when they had jumped the Museum's outer wall.

"Lazaruuuuuuus!" He called out, as he opened his eyes again, his stand hitting the pillar's side with glass claws, holding it in place, using its other arm to hold Daisuke, stopping him from falling.

He wasn't afraid of heights, he never had been, but looking down into the hall beneath him, where the phantoms were disappearing, being replaced by Shadows that were warded off by his teammates, was making him feel sick. He shook off the nausea, looking forward, seeing the chandelier in front of him. It was still far, but if he used Lazarus's strength to push off the pillar, he just might reach it and be able to stand on top of it. He chuckled nervously to himself. _How the hell did I get into this situation?_ He looked back down, _If I fall, Riko or Tatsuya can catch me… Probably._ Taking another deep breath, he got his feet against the pillar, bending his knees and then pushing off the wall using his Stand's added strength. He flew through the air, faster than he would've thought. He landed on top of the metal chandelier, feeling the cold steel as the momentum carried him rolling along it, hitting against the large chain that held it in place. The whole chandelier rocked side to side, but the chain kept it steady.

"Ok then, time to crash the party," Daisuke said, holding onto the chain to steady himself, getting back up, still feeling sore from the impact.

Lazarus appeared in front of him as he took a leap backwards. The Stand formed another long two handed broadsword made of the most resistant glass he could make, but also the sharpest he was capable of. He wouldn't be able to expend that much energy and time on an attack like that in a regular fight, but to cut something as resistant as that, he had to go for it.

"Bring it down!"

Lazarus did as he commanded, launching a large powerful swing at the chain, a loud sound being heard as the sword connected with the chain and smashed past it. Immediately, Daisuke felt the chandelier begin to fall, as the remains of the chain hung from the ceiling: broken. He held onto the falling chandelier, cursing in his mind, as the sound of screaming was heard from below him. _I'm dead._

He felt something pull at him, throwing him off the top of the chandelier, as it came crashing down into the floor, smashing past the fountain and the floor underneath, sending a cloud of dust, rubble and water upwards. Amidst the chaos, Daisuke was completely disorientated, being pulled to somewhere that he couldn't tell where until, finally, he came to a stop and felt someone hold him. He opened his eyes again to see that it was Starsailor, Tatsuya's Stand that let him go, allowing him to get back on the ground.

"You actually bloody did it, you mad bastard!" Tatsuya complimented him, helping him as he stumbled. "Next time let me do the big hero thing, ok?"

Daisuke smiled, looking forward again. Riko, Garm and Yukino, once they had checked to see if he was fine, had walked over to the giant hole that the chandelier had left on the ground after it fell. The hall that previously had been spotless, filled with ghost visitors, was now a complete wreck, with pieces of the chandelier and rubble from the fountain and the floor all over the place. Daisuke and Tatsuya walked up to their friends, looking downwards into the hole.

"He's down there," Garm confirmed once again.

The team traded quick looks with each other, before finally, jumping downwards, once again, Riko slowing their descent with her Stand. They were now inside a large dark room, with the only light source being the remnants of light that came from the upper floor.

Yukino called her Stand then, Arabella generating a small flame that, despite its size, produced quite a bit of light, illuminating the dark room in a pale blue colour. It looked like an old workshop, with pieces of old, broken equipment discard to the sides, as well as fallen paintings that had tears or smears on them. In front of the team, stood a door of a dark wood, after which, Ryoji Mochizuki and his Shadow would await them.

Riko was the one at the front of the group when they approached the door, and, after taking a look at her teammates, she pushed the door back, letting them in. The new room was smaller than the previous one, but still quite large, lined with unfinished paintings and sculptures around the area, with a large number of candles burning along the walls, giving the room a very strange, ominous light. They found him there, Ryoji was laying on the ground unconscious just like Yukino had been on the day they had found her. His uniform was dirty and his hair was messy, but he seemed to not be injured. The arrival of the other five awoke him, as he blinked slowly, getting himself into a sitting position, looking around, his senses returning to him and, as they did, his fear began to manifest.

"Wh-Where am I?" He asked, looking at them, "Who are you?"

"We're here to save you, Ryoji-kun," Riko said, "You were kidnapped."

Ryoji tried to get up, almost falling back down were it not for Tatsuya and Riko both helping him stay on his feet. He looked to them, still confused, but relaxing a bit when he saw that they didn't mean him harm. He then looked at Daisuke and Yukino:

"You two… You followed me the other day. You were the one who beat up Odagiri-kun and Sakaki-kun."

"We don't have time for this," Tatsuya intervened, "We need to get him out of here before—"

The sound of the door closing behind them was audible in the room, and as they turned to look, there it was: Shadow Ryoji. The Renaissance getup was even more elaborate and pompous up close, the gold rings and pendants shone when they reflected the light from the torches.

"You won't leave yet, there is still so much more to see," the Shadow said, its voice, as expected was the same as the real one, "An artist shouldn't leave behind a work unfinished."

"Out of the way asshole!" Tatsuya said, raising his knife, "Move or we'll make you move!"

"Why…" Ryoji passed by Tatsuya, entranced by the Shadow, "Why do you look like me?"

"I am you, Ryoji Mochizuki. I am the world's most exciting artist. The son of Haseo and Mirei Mochizuki, a prodigy from a rich lineage," the Shadow opened its arms wide, "People have come from far and wide to see my new works. To be able to embrace young Master Ryoji's true gift of art! Hahahaha… And I do not care."

Daisuke clenched his sword harder. He would transform, that much was certain. Riko and Yukino immediately tried to tell Ryoji he shouldn't listen, but it wouldn't work. In that moment, only the Shadow mattered.

"It's strange though, isn't it?" The Shadow touched its face, "I don't even care about it. Not anymore. It's not fun. I used to draw because I felt like it. I could paint whatever I felt like. But now, I do it because I have to. I paint, not what I want when I want, but what they want when they want. And for what? Just so I can be beat up and taken advantage of."

At that moment, voices were heard echoing through the chamber, but not from any of the people that were inside there. They seemed to come from the walls: _"That isn't accurate, you should redraw it", "Not good enough, you can do better, Ryoji", "You shouldn't waste your time like that, you need to paint", "Going to paint again, Mochizuki? You're such a bore", "You're such a loser", "Look at him, the idiot is crying!"_

"Is this… what Ryoji-kun goes through?" Yukino said in a low voice disheartened.

"No…" Ryoji mumbled, holding his head, trying to close his ears off from the voices as he fell to his knees, "Leave me alone…"

"I don't deserve this!" The Shadow shouted, anger flaring in its eyes, "I hate it! I hate my life and everyone I know! wish I never got this talent! I wish they would all just go up and DIE!"

"No!" Ryoji's voice echoed louder than any of the cognitive voices or the Shadows, he looked up with tears in his eyes, "You're not who I am! Leave me alone!"

Ryoji's echo was overtaken by the sound of the fires of metamorphosis, as the Shadow began to grow and twist within the azure conflagration. They were pushed back as the transformation concluded: Like other Shadows before, it had grown to giant proportions. It wore elaborate robes of white, with green and gold details reminiscent of waves and sea motifs that went all the way to its ankles. It had grown an extra set of arms, the top two hands holding onto brushes, the lower ones holding onto a hammer and a chisel. The pure-white, marble like face had ink stains on it around the golden eyes, small green tentacles came out of the back of the head, like strange hair.

"I am a Shadow. The True Self."

The Shadow moved its left brush arm and from it came a stream of red paint thinner thrown at the group. They each dodge in whatever direction they could, as the thinner fell on the ground and, as it did, the floor bellow started to corrode, the blood red substance falling into the gaps it created as it began to slowly dry up.

"Is that acid!?" Tatsuya asked, looking at the closest of the holes, only half a meter away from his left foot, "What the crap!?"

"Cursed fools!" The Shadow raved, taking steps forward, seemingly gliding across the floor leaving a trail of black ink behind it, "Fear my creation!"

Shadow Ryoji moved its other brush arm, and from it came bright green paint that flew ahead making a vaguely humanoid shape that started to charge ahead at them. Riko was the first to react, calling out Santigold who sent a vertical blade of wind that cut the paint-creature in half, the bright green ink blots flying to the side, and taking the shape of two smaller copies.

"They can multiply too?" Riko furrowed her brow.

"He can destroy stuff and create minions?" Tatsuya dodged another salvo of the acid-like red paint thinner, "This isn't fair, this bastard should be nerfed!"

The Shadow alternated its pattern. It either created new minions with the green paint, or tried to melt them with the red thinner. He was slowly pushing them back, and leaving them very little room to operate. Lazarus and Santigold could easily take out the paint monsters, but they would just divide again. Constantly pushed by the thinner, much more than the others, Tatsuya couldn't make use of Starsailor's gravity spheres without being exposed by the slow wind-up and charging of the attack. Yukino's firestorm could potentially burn and destroy the paint monsters, but it would make it hard to see, to the point where they would all be exposed to the thinner.

 _I have to create an opening_. Daisuke slashed past the monsters with his sword as he ran towards Tatsuya, who was being progressively pushed away from the rest. He kept attacking and making way in front of him, being able to hear and feel as the creatures that tried to claw at his back were stopped by Riko and Yukino.

"Charge up your gravisphere!" Daisuke commanded, as he made his way towards Tatsuya.

"I don't have time!" Tatsuya shouted back, kicking a creature back, raising his knife again in a protective stance, "I'll be killed before I have the chance!"

A sea of paint monsters blocked him from Tatsuya. He clenched his teeth, getting his sword down as the creatures made their away again to him. _I'll create a chance_. A wild smile crept up on his face, as fire overtook him and Lazarus rose from him, with two swords, one in each hand. Daisuke pointed his left hand forward:

"Tear them apart, Lazarus!"

Lazarus roared as it dashed ahead, spinning and slashing past the creatures, one after the other, sliced and diced by the sharp glass, some of the ink blots being cut in mid-air before they even had time to reform. He had no way to hold back, if he did they would be killed, and he wasn't going to let that happen. Daisuke had to move quickly, dodging away the thinner that was now launched and directed at him. He stood his ground after the first few, calling Lazarus back, sacrificing the swords to form a large wall of glass in front of him, blocking the paint monsters that charged him from the front, but also the thinner, that couldn't melt past the glass that was rearranged faster than it could be corroded.

"Gather them up, Starsailor!"

As almost all of the paint creatures had been focused on Daisuke and Lazarus, Tatsuya had finally gotten space, being able to summon his Stand to create a powerful gravity sphere that he sent ahead, stuck into the roof as its pulses began to pull with them the paint monsters and ink blots upwards. The Shadow could still resist the gravity's force, but its minions were mostly neutralized.

"How dare you ruin my art!?"

The Shadow gasped in surprise as the chain of Riko's kusarigama wrapped itself around the paintbrush, pulling it right out of its hand, it also being affected by Tatsuya's gravisphere, being pulled into the mass of paint and gravitational energy. The Shadow lashed out, trying to use its acid-like thinner on Riko, but she dodge out of the way. The Shadow looked ahead just in time to see Yukino step in front of him:

"Punish him, Arabella!"

Her witch-like Stand cast her flames ahead, consuming the Shadow as it screamed in pain and anger, its voice distorting amidst the sounds of the cracking fire. The paint creatures that were trapped in Tatsuya's attack started to melt, turning into regular paint, dripping from the ceiling but disappearing into thin air before they touched the ground. Once Arabella's firestorm ceased, the Shadow was back to its human form, laying against the wall as the fire died down around it.

"Yeah! Bloody hell, we did it!" Tatsuya laughed in a tired voice, "One more down."

"Not yet," Daisuke recalled, looking at Ryoji, "It's still alive. The only way we can get out of here, is if you accept it."

"Accept it…?" Ryoji was only a year younger than the other four, but his expressions were decidedly much more innocent and childish, "What do you mean?"

"That is a Shadow, your Shadow," Garm said, walking up to him. The fact that a dog was talking to him, seemed to not even register for the young artist, "It is a being created from a person's repressed emotions. What it said before, is what you try to hide from yourself, what you reject."

The Shadow had gotten back up, and was walking back towards them, Ryoji looked away scared.

"Ryoji-kun, it's okay," Riko smiled at him, "You don't need to be afraid. All of us were in the same place. Just relax."

Mochizuki gave a quick look to Riko, before he looked once more to his Shadow he had stopped standing still, just outside of their circle. Ryoji sighed, touching his head, before he talked again:

"I… I do have been having these weird thoughts lately," Ryoji made a weak, sad smile, "I loved to draw when I was younger. I used to even get sad when I ran out of materials to draw. But, for like the last year or so… I'm always sad when I'm drawing. My parents… They were always happy and cheering me when I used to paint, but they started to become more and more demanding. They want me to become a serious, famous artist like them. I still love them, and I don't want them to be hurt or anything… It's just…"

"You wish you could make your own choice," Yukino completed. She too knew what it was to have a path chosen by others.

"Yeah…" Ryoji looked straight in his Shadow's eyes once again, "I'm so sorry… I shouldn't have closed myself of like this. I should've talked to them. What you said, is true. You are a part of me."

The Shadow gave a silent nod as the light overtook it and it began to change into Mochizuki's Stand. It appeared as a thin man wearing rich renaissance era clothes in black and dark green, with white gloves on its hands, where it held two large brushes, one with a green tip and the other with a red one. The hair was akin to white and light yellow squid tentacles and the face was hidden behind a green mask with floral patterns in gold and white.

"I am thou. Thou art I. I am Wanderer, the mask of the Star. I am your sword and your shield."

Ryoji's new Stand disappeared into him, as congratulations came for him from the others. Garm however, was already at the door, with a serious expression:

"This place doesn't exist in your world," He said, "We can't go directly out of hear. We need to move befo—"

The ceiling began to rumble immediately, the sound of the museum beginning its collapse swallowed Garm's voice. Tatsuya gathered them all together, using Starsailor once again to push them fast across the floor, and, once they reached the other room where beams were beginning to fall on top of the broken chandelier, he made them shoot up and into the ground floor and up. A pillar was about to smash them when they finally managed to press the app and were ripped from out of the crumbling museum and into the normal world, where they were spitted out into a street, once again falling awkwardly over each other, but, for all intents and purposes safe.

"Next time… We work on thinking of an exit before everything comes falling down," Daisuke said, rubbing his head.


	18. Ch18: Evaluation

**Evaluation:**

Daisuke put his hand in front of his mouth to unsuccessfully try to contain a yawn. He was sitting in the sofa, playing on his phone to pass the time. His aunt was on the other side, watching television, and Garm was laying down between the two of them, sleeping. Golden Week had finally started, the few holidays grouped together made it so that the students could get a few days to recover from the chaos of the start of the school year, but to Daisuke, it was more than just school-related fatigue he had to recover from.

Ryoji had been taken to the hospital on the same day they had rescued him, however, they hadn't been able to get his mobile phone number, so they didn't have any news about him, nor a way for them to contact him. For what they knew, he would've been kept at the hospital for at least a few days or weeks, much like what had happened to Yukino. What they could be almost certain about, however, was that they had successfully foiled the killer's plans for the second straight time. And now they had a well-deserved rest.

However, while they could have some rest from the Shadows and from Sakakibara's classes, they couldn't so much say the same about their studies. Their midterms were coming up. They would go from the 18th of May to the 25th, and while they were still two weeks away, their teachers had made sure to input on their head that they should begin to study as much as they could.

The doorbell rang then and Daisuke got up from his seat, Garm raising his head and following his movements with his bright little eyes. Tatsuya was standing by the door frame, wearing his usual yellow jacket, black shirt and white pants. He had brought his school bag with him.

"Yo," he greeted with his trademark cocky smile, before he his eyes got stuck on Saeko, who had also risen from her seat, "Oh! H-hello."

"Aunt Saeko, this is my friend Tatsuya," Daisuke introduced him, walking back to the room so Tatsuya could enter following behind him, "I forgot to ask you if it would be ok for us to study here."

"Of course you can, it's no problem at all," Saeko gifted them with her usual pleasant smile, "I have to go do some shopping anyway, so I'll give you some space. Nice to meet you, Tatsuya-kun."

"Nice to meet you too, Hirose-san!" Tatsuya said in a much louder tone than normal, doing an overdramatic bow. As he rose back up, Daisuke noticed he was blushing slightly.

"Just make sure you don't break anything, ok?" Saeko chuckled, visibly amused by Tatsuya's lack of an indoor voice.

She walked over to the counter, picking up her bag and keys and then made her way to the door, where she waved goodbye, and left. Tatsuya's gaze had not averted from her until she had disappeared, and then he stared at the door some more after she closed it behind her, something that had not gone unnoticed by Daisuke.

"Tatsuya," Daisuke called, giving him an unfriendly look.

"Huh?" Tatsuya shook his head, like he was coming out of a daze, "Oh Daisuke, what's up?"

"Please refrain from staring at my aunt's ass."

"Wh-What?" Tatsuya got redder still, almost jumping in place, "You noticed…? Sorry, it's just… I knew your aunt was young, but I didn't expect her to be hot."

"Despicable!" Garm had jumped up to the sofa's back, staring at Tatsuya with rage-filled eyes, "How dare you speak that way about Lady Saeko!?"

"Oh don't you white knight me, doggo!" Tatsuya complained, turning towards Garm.

Daisuke sighed, feeling a headache brewing as he went to the door again, where, once again, the bell had been rung. Riko was the one on the other side, wearing her shorts, an orange top and a teal jacket. Yukino stood right behind her, in her stockings, dark-blue skirt and warm cream turtleneck sweater. Like Tatsuya, they both had brought their books and writing material.

"Hey! Sorry we're late," Riko apologized as she and Yukino walked inside, "Oh, Tatsuya's early for a change."

"And already fighting with Garm-chan," Yukino added with a playful smile, "They really do love each other."

They eventually took their places around the dinner table, each one taking out their sets of books, notepads and writing utensils. It was a bit of a strange experience for Daisuke to study with friends. He had sometimes studied in groups, and it wasn't like he didn't have friends back in the city, but he had never felt so attached to classmates. They're bonds were much more than just born of chance, they actually cared for each other. They were "real" friends, unlike what Daisuke had ever experienced before he came to Morioh. He couldn't help avoid feeling a sense of warmth within him from it.

"Augh, this sucks…" Tatsuya laid his head down on his books, "Why do we have to study anyway? Midterms aren't coming for weeks."

"Because, you big dumbo, what happens if we have a mission during them?" Riko said frowning, "We'd have no time to study then. It's best if we get started early."

"Oh screw you," Tatsuya said, before adding with a devilish smile, "Your grades are gonna suck anyway."

"Rikocchi's grades aren't _terrible_ in most subjects," Yukino intervened, in her characteristic well-intentioned but brutally honest style, "She's just very 'creative' in her interpretation of text."

"The way how you said it made it even worse…" Riko sighed, before staring at Tatsuya again, "Ok, smartass, whomever gets the worst score pays for the food during the class trip."

"Class trip?" Daisuke perked up from his notes, "What class trip?"

"Oh, I thought you knew about it," Riko said, "The school organizes a small trip to the mountains in the middle of June. Only second and first years get to go."

"Oh, sounds cool," Daisuke opined.

"Nah, it's really not," Tatsuya shook his head, "We just go and camp there basically. It's to get us 'in touch with nature' or something. We go on a Friday and come back the next day. I was super bored last year."

"I actually think it could be quite fun this year," Yukino said in a cheerful tone, "It's really pretty up there, we get to see the stars and relax. Plus, we're the ones who get to cook."

"You know how to cook, Yukino?" Daisuke asked, curious.

"Well, not really," she looked up, placing a finger on her chin, "But it can't be too hard, right? Can you cook, Daisuke-kun?"

"Nameless cooked a few days ago," Garm jumped to the table, between the two of them, "He was dreadful at it."

"Hey, I wasn't _that_ bad," Daisuke grumbled, poking Garm's nose with his finger, pushing him back, "It was bland, but it was definitely edible."

" _Edible_ isn't really the sort of standard I want to aim for," Tatsuya said, crossing his arms.

"Oh stop complaining about everything," Riko threw a crumpled ball of paper at Tatsuya that hit him square in the forehead.

"I'm sure if we work together we can make something great," Yukino said with a smile that tried to be both encouraging and calming.

They slowly phased back into studying, Tatsuya's grumbling becoming sparser as he started to slowly lose hope in life, or at least, that's what Daisuke interpreted his almost catatonic state of staring blankly into the nearest text book.

As the next few days rolled around, they started to get less and less time to hang out, as work continued to pile up and, even if they didn't have to worry currently about someone being trapped in the Shadow World, midterms were still getting closer. They only got all four together for study a few more times, concluding that they ended up just joking and not actually working, so they had instead switched to study in pairs. Daisuke had sequentially studied with the other three, and even a few times he had been asked by Kuronuma to study with him in the library. The ones with his kendo teammate had by far been the most productive, as they only really talked about what they were studying, while whenever Daisuke got together with Tatsuya, the blond boy wanted not really to study, but just to speak of anything but work, Riko was prone to having attacks of irrational annoyed mumbling and nervous laughter and Yukino, while much calmer than the others, still enjoyed far too much to make bad jokes while he recited material, which while endearing, was still not quite the most productive of study sessions.

On the morning of the eighteenth, Daisuke felt incredibly tired, barely able to keep his eyes open after spending the last day trying to study while Garm kept interrupting him, continuously asking him random questions about what they did at school and why that week seemed so dreaful. Even if that wasn't enough, Tatsuya had decided to wait until way past midnight to start sending him funny pictures he had found around the internet. When Daisuke had finally answered him why he wasn't studying in an annoyed all caps text, the reply came back as: " _gave up lel"_.

Thankfully for him, Sakakibara's test, the one he was most worried about, was the last one on the 25th, so he had a somewhat easy time navigating the questions that were asked of him through the week. He had a quick memory being able to retain most information that was shared in class, as well as enough wit and natural problem solving ability that allowed him to compensate for his terrible study capability. As the tests kept coming, he settled into a rhythm, even finishing quite a few of them before the time limit, having time to review. As the week progressed, he got to see Yukino's mood stay relatively the same, as she seemed to be having an easy time, as it seemed that her loose and jokey way of looking at the subjects made it easier for her to memorize them. The same was not true for his two other friends, as Riko looked consistently miserable throughout the week but putting in serious effort amidst her fits of nervous laughs, while Tatsuya seemed to have reached nirvana halfway through the week, judging from his complete lack of an expression besides a serene look forward. Daisuke wondered if, in those moments, Tatsuya had found purpose in life, or he had given up and was just waiting for the rapture.

As the last test ended, Daisuke felt relief, as if a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders. He felt confident in his work for most of the exams, barring Sakakibara's extended trash fire on Japanese literature, mainly because he was almost certain that the teacher wouldn't waste a prime chance to screw with him. Maybe the reason why he had put in so many interpretation and essay questions was really to have an excuse to intentionally bring students' grades down according to his grade of dislike for them (as Daisuke was almost certain there were no students he actually liked).

"Well that wasn't so bad," Yukino said smiling once they left the classroom, "How did you all do?"

"Terrible," Riko answered, scratching her head with a look that could only be described as full of regret, "I think I developed an allergy to questions."

"Okay, I think," Daisuke said, adjusting his school bag, "Last one was harder, but I think I did well for most of it."

"I just want to order the largest beef bowl in the diner and drown in it," Tatsuya finalized said with a ghoulish look.

They left the school together, following Tatsuya's suggestion of going to the diner, even if they weren't so keen on going through with the drowning in beef bowls suggestion. As they reached it and took their seats, talk started to shift away from the bleakness of midterms and slowly moving towards their other duties:

"Ryoji-kun didn't come to school even for exams, right?" Riko asked, after taking a quick bite of bread, "I wonder if he's alright."

"He should be fine, I mean, I doubt the killer could kidnap him again," Tatsuya answered, visibly much happier to be talking about anything that wasn't school, "Besides, he has a Stand now. His Shadow is gone."

"It is possible the killer might switch his M.O.," Yukino brought up, "He's been stopped twice in a row."

That was indeed true. That they knew of, the killer had so far taken three victims hostages, all following the same process of dragging them into the other world, and letting the victim's Shadow kill them for him. It was a very specific way of operating, and one that the police could never pin on him, but, as he or she would now know, it wasn't infallible. The Shadows could be stopped, and depending on the timing of the kidnapping, they could even take their time in their rescue attempts.

"Do you think he knows about us?" Tatsuya asked, almost as if reading Daisuke's mind, "The killer, I mean."

"Well, someone is stopping his plans, so he probably does," Riko said, thinking, "But… Daisuke-kun managed to accept his Shadow with only Garm-chan's help."

"But I got in by myself and was conscious," Daisuke recalled, "Both Ryoji and Yukino were 'asleep' before we arrived. Besides, Garm did say that during rain Shadows go berserk, so if they woke up during it, they probably wouldn't be able to stop them."

Tatsuya scratched his head: "So… We wait for Mochizuki."

Daisuke nodded.


	19. Ch19: Way of Life

**Way of Life:**

Sunlight came through windows into the homeroom of class 2-A, where only a few students remained for lunchtime. Daisuke took a piece of meat from his boxed lunch and bit into it, feeling the bland taste of the undercooked meat as he chewed on it. He had continued practising when he had the time, his aunt even chimed in with tips whenever she could, but his cooking was still very much an underdeveloped skill. Whatever he tried to do was definitely edible, but its taste was never any good. It all tasted the same, that is to say, it tasted of nothing at all. If he was to be the team's cook in the class trip, he feared that they would all go hungry for the weekend.

"Oh, did your aunt cook for you, Daisuke-kun?"

Yukino had turned around on her chair to face him, leaving her open bowl of tofu in her desk. She was the only member of the team that remained inside the classroom besides him. Riko had went to the lunch in the cafeteria, while Tatsuya intended on scavenging the vending machines, as was his custom.

"No, I did it," he answered, looking at his lunch, not hiding his disappointment at his lack of culinary prowess, "I wanted to get more practice for the trip, but seems like it's a lost cause. Tatsuya probably can cook better than me at this point."

"I doubt it's that bad," she lowered her head into the palm of her hand, giving him a friendly smile, before taking a close look at the boxed lunch, "Do you mind if I have a taste?"

"It's not good. It tastes like absolutely nothing, I'm warning you," Daisuke said, still giving her the chopsticks, "But sure, try it out."

She nodded, accepting the chopsticks and picking up a bit of meat, raising it to her mouth and eating it. As she chewed, her expression stayed pretty much the same, completely neutral. Finally she finally talked again, with a peculiar smile:

"Yeah, it's bad."

"I told you," Daisuke said, but couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, "Why are you smiling, though?"

"Oh, I guess to make you feel less bad about it," she shrugged, before giving him a semi-embarrassed smile, "Sorry. I guess I'm a bit awkward when expressing myself, huh?"

She was. Daisuke attributed her lack of a filter to the fact that she had grown up trying to distance herself from others, trying to not stand out, as her role as the daughter of the Yamaguchi family made others look at her like she was different. She had to bear the consequences of her parents' polemic LuckyLand business, even if she had no control over it. Ever since she had accepted her Shadow, however, her true personality had surfaced: she kept smiling and making puns and jokes, trying to make her friends laugh. Her uncontrolled honesty could sometimes lead to her words being taken in the wrong way, but that was who she was, and in its own way, it was quite endearing. Daisuke couldn't help but feel himself appreciating her quirks more and more as time went on.

"Don't worry about it," he said picking back the sticks, "Just keep being you."

"Thanks," she made an embarrassed smile. She turned around, picking up the remains of her tofu, "Hum, I don't want any more. You want it? Since I just took your food and all..."

"Nah, it's ok," Daisuke, smiled back himself, "I'm not that hungry, anyway."

"Oh, you guys are still here."

They both looked over towards the door, from where Riko had appeared, walking over to them in a brisk pace:

"Midterms results are out," the recently returned girl said.

"Already?" Daisuke asked, "Weren't they only getting posted tomorrow?"

"I guess the teachers got them done faster than they expected," Riko shrugged, " I saw them posted by the entrance. You guys want to go check?"

Daisuke and Yukino traded a quick look, before both getting up from their seats and following behind Riko, back into the corridor and towards the school's entrance hall. When they arrived, a group of buzzing students was already reunited around a board where the results for their recently done exams were posted. Tatsuya was amongst the students checking on the results. As he turned to face them, they could see that his face held the same odd peaceful expression he had adopted halfway through exams, like he a Buddha statuette.

"You... okay?" Daisuke asked as he saw him.

"Peachy, never been better," Tatsuya replied with a weird smirk and a dismissive hand wave.

Daisuke watched as his friend moved back away from the crowd, before he decided to approach the results. He looked over to the second year rankings. Immediately at the top, he found the name "Shiro Kuronuma". He wasn't surprised to find the kendo captain's name that high, it was obvious from talking to him that he would never have any sort of problem with measly exams. A few names down, at 6th, he was pleased to see Yukino's name. His name was only a few more down than hers at 9th. He smiled in relief at seeing himself rated in the top 10. Sakakibara, for all his hatred, hadn't been completely unfair when the time had come to grade him.

"Yes!" Riko had just gotten behind him when Daisuke looked over his shoulder, and she had the world's largest grin on her face, "That's best I've ever gotten!"

Daisuke looked back at the test results, looking for Riko's name, being pleasantly surprised in finding it comfortably placed a few names above the middle. Riko had been the one that had been hardest at work out of all of them, and it seemed like her efforts had really paid off.

"I'm so proud of you, Rikocchi!" Yukino cheered for her, with a large smile, "You too, Daicchi!"

"You just say that, cuz you got the best results of us all. Just wait until I'm number one in finals," Riko said back in a playful tone, before remembering something, "Oh yeah, how are Tatsuya's grades? Are they any good?"

Daisuke looked again, finding Tatsuya's name just under the mean, as one would expect from his complete disinterest in studying. His grades weren't even terrible, but he could have much better results if he tried more than not at all. If he had actually studied or even just paid some attention in class, he could've gotten results akin to Riko's.

"Well, at least know we know who's going to pay for our trip supplies," Daisuke said, with a sigh.

"Well, I'm happy that I won our bet," Riko said, shaking her head "But I'm mad that idiot doesn't take this seriously."

Daisuke nodded, before looking back to check the other years' results, finding Satsuki Toriumi, the Student Council President, as the second best in the third year. More importantly, however, he checked the first years looking for Ryoji Mochizuki's name. He didn't expect to find it, all the more reason he was surprised when he saw the boy's name in the middle of the list.

"Mochizuki did the exams," Daisuke told the other two, pointing to the 1st year listing.

"Did he come back for exams and we just didn't see him?" Riko asked, curious.

"Maybe they let him take his exams in the hospital," Yukino suggested, "If he was like me, than he was kept there more for observation than anything else, he should've been able to do the tests."

"Actually, I did come here."

The three turned towards the voice, being surprised in finding Mochizuki walking up to them. He wore his uniform in a pristine way, the bangs of his hair almost covered his right eye. He held onto the strap of his school bag, slinged across his shoulder, with both hansds

"Ryoji-kun!" Riko called, surprised.

"H-hi," Ryoji mumbled, clearly embarrassed from the other three staring straight at him, "I wanted to talk with you. Do you mind…?"

They traded looks with each other, before nodding, agreeing to the freshman's demands. They took Mochizuki with them, going up to the school's rooftop, the place that had become akin to their base of operations. Daisuke sent a text to Tatsuya once they got there and, moments later, the blond walked into the rooftop. From his expression, it seemed like he had either forgotten about his test results, or he had just put that on the backburner to think about later:

"Yo, I'm here," he announced as he walked in, taking his place next to Daisuke and looking at Ryoji, "So what do you want?"

"So, hum…" Ryoji said, sitting on one of the benches, looking to the others, "I wanted to thank you guys. For saving me."

"You don't need to thank us," Yukino said, with a friendly smile, "Saving people is kind of our job at this point."

"Your job…" Ryoji looked down at his feet for a moment, "Can you please tell me: Just who are all of you?"

"I'm Riko Kida. These are Tatsuya Mikado, Yukino Yamaguchi and Daisuke Ichijou," Riko introduced them, pointing to each one as she said their names, "We're trying to stop the kidnappings. We're Stand Users, like you."

"Stand Users?" He repeated with a questioning tone.

They then began explaining all that they knew to him. They talked about the place he had been trapped in, how it had been moulded from his cognition of the world and how the doppelgänger that had kept him there was his Shadow, his darker inner self manifested in a physical form. They went into further details into how exactly the Shadow World worked and how they went about it, also explaining to him how Stands and Shadows worked, how they were sort of like two halves of the same coin. They each spoke about how, like he had, they had also faced their own personal Shadows and torments and that trial had allowed them to awaken their Stands that now allowed them to venture into the world of the Shadows. Finally, they told him how they had all decided that they would use their newfound power to stop whomever was behind the kidnappings and the attempted murders. Mochizuki was an avid listener, following along with their every word, sometimes asking his own questions that were promptly answered. He seemed to not have much of a hard time understanding them, however. Daisuke couldn't help but wonder if he's connection with the arts somehow made him more open to accepting the strange and the out of the ordinary, or if his natural naiveté made him listen and accepting his senpais words, without questioning their truthfulness.

"Mochizuki, do you remember anything about who took you to that place?" Daisuke asked, crossing his arms, "Where you were, how it happened? Anything at all?"

"No, nothing. The last thing I remember was leaving school, and then I woke up inside that place," he said, his expression showed that he was trying to recall, but was clearly bothered by his lack of memory of the day, "I wish I could say more, but I really don't know what happened. My memory is completely blank."

"It's okay, Ryoji-kun," Yukino said, trying to comfort him, "What matters is that you're safe now."

Ryoji nodded and he remained silent for a while, staring back at his shoes again. Looking at the clock on his phone, Daisuke noted that lunchtime was nearly almost over and they would certainly have to get back to homeroom within the next few minutes or risk hearing Sakakibara's wrath. He warned his classmates about it, and, leaving Ryoji one last look, they started to walk towards the door.

"Please, just wait a moment!"

They turned around, seeing that Ryoji had got up from the bench, and was looking at them, with his fists closed. His expression was odd, like he was prepared to cry, but at the same time, had some bravery to it:

"I want to help you," he said, looking to all of them, one at a time, and then back to the ground, "I felt so powerless for the last few months. Always being pushed around by everybody. I hated it, I just wanted people to leave me alone… Daisuke-senpai and Yukino-senpai, you even helped be back then and I just ran away again…"

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it," Daisuke said, "It's not really your fault."

"I guess what I want to say is… I know how bad it is to feel like this," Ryoji looked at Daisuke with an intensity he had never shown before, "I don't want anybody to go through what I did. I want to help people," he smiled, "I want to join the team, senpai."

Daisuke smiled back at him, and so did his teammates, as they welcomed Ryoji into their ranks with open arms. They hadn't yet seen what Mochizuki's Stand, Wanderer, was truly capable of, however, his Shadow had shown to have one of the most versatile set of abilities that they had seen so far, being capable of two types of attack, creating with paint and destroying with thinner. If Ryoji could harness his Stands full capabilities, he could prove an invaluable asset, especially if the killer, seeing his last two efforts fail, could take steps in trying to stop them.

"Oh yeah, let me add you to our group chat," Riko said, taking off her phone, "Tell me your phone number, Ryoji-kun."

Ryoji told it to her and only a few seconds later, Daisuke felt his phone vibrating, the team's chat had been updated with a new message: "~ _Strength (Riko Kida) had added Star (Ryoji Mochizuki) to the chat~"_.

"Welcome aboard, rookie" Tatsuya said, slapping his back, "If you need any help, just ask your ol' senpai."

Ryoji laughed, looking the happiest he had ever looked as he smiled to his new teammates:

"Guess that's official then. I'm part of the team."


	20. Ch20: In the Mountains

**In the Mountains:**

Daisuke stretched himself, suppressing a yawn as he got out of the white and dark blue old bus. Looking around him, he could see a large clearing amidst the mountains where large picnic tables and benches had been placed under a cloth covering that was meant to shield whomever sat at them from the hot sun. Around the clearing a large number of pine trees could be seen, giving the whole scenery a lush green look, when combined with the lower plants and grass. They couldn't see the river from where they were, but they could definitely hear the sounds of rushing water crashing into the rocks under the louder, closer sound of chirping birds that flew between branches. Moriohcho's mountains had a very picturesque look to them, one that Daisuke found himself enjoying quite a bit. He closed his eyes momentarily, enjoying the sweet breeze that passed through the tree branches and rustled his hair.

"Ow, ass!"

Daisuke sighed, looking at Tatsuya by his side, who looking at his exposed forearm where a bug had bitten him. Tatsuya, like Daisuke and every other student in the trip, wore the school's PE dark-blue track suit, with white stripes on the shoulders, and blue-grey accents on the end of the sleeves and on the collar. Daisuke kept his jacket open, showing his black t-shirt underneath, and had his sleeves rolled up, while Tatsuya didn't wear the jacket, having left it inside his travel bag. Instead he only wore a white t-shirt with rolled up sleeves and the tracksuit pants.

"Not even a minute in, and a mosquito already bit me," Tatsuya complained, as was his custom, "This is going to be a very long weekend, I can tell…"

 _Especially if you keep complaining the whole way through_ , Daisuke thought to himself, shaking his head, and going to pick up his travel bag from the bus' storage. He was one of the last to come away from it, as his bag had rolled back deeper into the compartment, being hidden behind most others. When he finally retrieved it, he found his friends waiting for him by one of the tables: Tatsuya had joined up with Riko and Yukino, but also with Ryoji, who, ever since he had become a member of the team, had begun spending a lot more of his time with them. The artist wore his tracksuit zipped all the way up. Much like his uniform, it seemed like he liked to look as well presented as possible. Riko had her jacket wrapped around waist; Like Tatsuya, she had only a white t-shirt on her top, while Yukino left her jacket closed until just below her neck, revealing a bit of her inner sky-blue shirt.

"Now listen up, you morons!"

Sakakibara's voice managed to scare off even the bravest of birds, as the teacher climbed up on a small rock to make himself visible to all the students around him. Much like them, he also wore a version of the school tracksuit, but his was a darker shade, as were the ones worn by the two other teachers that accompanied him. Sakakibara looked even redder and angrier than usual. Daisuke wasn't sure if his teacher's redness was because the tracksuit was too small for him and made him look plumper and worse, or if he just hated being in the mountains and away from the town that much.

"I was given the _privilege_ of keeping you degenerates in check for this whole trip," the teacher continued, with his traditional drawl, "So you are all going to do what I tell you to, and you are going to behave, you understand me? You went up here to look at the trees or something. Poppycock, that is, I tell ya."

"Hey, I agree with him for once," Tatsuya said under his breath.

"You are going to set up your tents by yourselves. If you can't do it, tough luck, you're going to sleep in the cold. I don't care," Sakakibara continued, "You are to be separated by your grade, second years on one side, first years on the other. No mingling. Easier to manage like that."

"Shame, I would rather stay with you all," Ryoji admitted, crossing his arms, "I'd rather not end up staying with someone like Sakaki-kun or Odagiri-kun."

"There is a maximum of three students per tent. And now the important part," Sakakibara's neck vein became extra salient, and his voice became even more unpleasant, "You are divided by genders. I don't want to see any mixed tents, you hear me, you horny simpletons? I won't allow you to act like animals out here!"

"Oh, that's unfortunate," Yukino said in a low tone, and instantly all eyes of her companions were fixed on her. She then blushed hard, realising what she had said must have sounded like, "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that! I just thought that we'd get to stay together."

"Woah, for a second there, I thought this trip would've actually been interesting," Tatsuya said with the most perverted smile he could muster.

"Santigold!" Riko cried out as she punched Tatsuya as hard as she could in the kidneys, making him bend over himself, wheezing from pain, "You degenerate."

"I see you have quite the lively group of friends, Daisuke."

Daisuke looked up from Tatsuya to see Shiro Kuronuma walking his way, raising his hand in a friendly fashion, with his usual smile. He also kept his jacket open, and his white shirt had a simple black design.

"Hey, Shiro," Daisuke greeted, raising his own hand, "You want something?"

"Oh. Well, yes, as a matter of fact," the kendo captain placed both hands in his trouser pockets, "Do you mind if I stay in your tent?"

"Huh? Nah, pretty boy, our tent's full," Tatsuya said, trying to compose himself, his voice still sounded a higher pitch than usual, "Beat it."

"I apologize, I didn't intend to be rude," Shiro said, raising his open hands, "It's only that, as far as I know, most other second year tents are full."

"We already have three people on ours," Tatsuya countered, gesturing to Daisuke and Ryoji.

"Actually, Tatsuya-senpai, I _am_ a first year," Ryoji recalled, even if saddened, "I should get moving anyway, before Mr. Sakakibara gets angry at me."

"I didn't mean to push you away. I'm sorry, Mochizuki-san", Shiro did a small, apologetic bow.

"Wait… You know him?" Daisuke asked.

"Hum? Oh, no. I just recognize him from the news. Same thing for Yamaguchi-san," Shiro's quick glance at Yukino, surprised her, making her look a bit uncomfortable, "Sorry if I sounded rude there, talking as if I knew you. I apologize."

"Well, fine, then," Tatsuya conceded, throwing his hands in the air, starting to walk towards the place where they would have their tents built, "Just make sure you don't talk too loud, pretty boy."

"Well, I guess that means you're in," Daisuke said, touching the other boy's shoulder, with a friendly pat, "Let's go, then."

After agreeing to meet again once they had their tents sorted out, they split up: Ryoji went to find a place amongst the first years, while Yukino and Riko went to the place designated for second year girls. Daisuke had checked a few times on the instructions how the tent was supposed to be built, but he still had a much harder time actually accomplishing the task of setting it up, even with Tatsuya and Shiro's help.

The tension between his two friends, one-sided as it was, continued as they kept building the tent. Daisuke recognised that, for how popular and smart his kendo partner was, his overwhelmingly polite speech and general look of the best-behaved person in the whole province could annoy some people, especially people who were the polar opposite of him, just like Tatsuya who was just about the most vulgar and rude one could get without being completely unbearable.

Still, after a few solid minutes of trying, the structure in dark-blue cloth was finally completed. Taking a quick peek inside, Daisuke saw that the tent was spacious enough for the sleeping bags of the three of them to fit without much trouble. They would still have quite a bit of separation between them.

"Well, that thing is done," Tatsuya said, rotating his arm, holding his shoulder, "What's next? Walk through the woods and stuff?"

"Actually, Mikado-san, I believe we are required to collect the rubbish around the path," Shiro said, holding his chin with his right hand.

"What? We didn't do that thing last year!" Tatsuya said back.

"Only second years get to do it, as they are the senpai," Kuronuma shrugged, "We should get started. Mr. Sakakibara is your homeroom teacher, so I'd assume he'd pay closer attention to you."

Daisuke nodded, walking with Shiro back towards the tables, Tatsuya following behind them, grumbling insults at Sakakibara the entire way. They found their tools and plastic bags there, and, after receiving instructions from one of the other teachers, went out into the middle of the forest. Yukino and Riko ended up joining them soon afterwards, as did the other girl who was on their tent, a girl with dyed strawberry blond hair in curly tails that introduced herself as Keiko Nakamura. Keiko was, honestly, quite attractive, with a cute face, that along with her fitness and colourful hairstyle got Tatsuya on notice. Daisuke, on the other hand, got an instant distaste for how chatty the girl was.

"But you looked so cool in the nationals, Kuronuma-san!" Keiko said, walking behind Shiro, almost like a sheep, "I'm so sad you got injured… Like, you would totally beat those Tokyo guys' butts if you were healthy!"

"I am flattered, Nakamura-san," Shiro's smile seemed about as genuine as they could ever be, "I'll try doing my best this year too. I'm sure, you agree, do you not, Daisuke?"

"Huh?" Daisuke had been trying to steer clear from them, moving closer to Riko, furthest from the main group, "Oh, yeah. I'm looking forward to it."

"You know, the volleyball team is also going to nationals this year," Tatsuya butted in, doing his best 'killer smile', "We'd love to have your support, Keiko-tan!"

She didn't seem to even register Tatsuya's voice, continuing talking to Shiro. Daisuke, with Riko chuckling by his side, turned to Tatsuya, making an exaggerated sign of prayer, to which Tatsuya responded by flipping him the middle finger with a silent " _Fuck you"_.

"But, like, why do you wear helmets?" She continued, seemingly ignoring Tatsuya completely, and moving closer to Shiro, touching his arm, "You are so handsome, Shiro-san. Why do you have to wear that helmet?"

"Ugh, she's the worst…" Riko said under her breath, so only Daisuke could hear her, before doing an overly nasal voice, " _Like, Shiro-san, show me, like, how big your sword is!_ "

They both ended up laughing together, as Yukino came to join them, as if sensing they must've been keeping something funny from her. Yukino cracked up into a loud laugh, as did Daisuke, as Riko continued her overdone impression.

As the sun began to set, they finished their work, returning back to camp. Daisuke couldn't help but feel a bit tired, even if it wasn't particularly physically demanding work, the sun that came in through the trees and the constant chatting by Keiko Nakamura had sapped his energy, even if the good laughs they had gotten out of making fun of her, kind of made it worth it. They sat at a table, the boys on one side, the girls in front of them. Daisuke could see Ryoji on one of the first year tables, seemingly finding someone to talk to in a short girl with glasses. Daisuke couldn't help but feel glad that his underclassman seemed to have found a friend.

"So, here's the moment of truth…" Tatsuya said, crossing his arms, and doing an overtly serious expression, "Who's cooking."

"Daicchi can do it," Yukino said at once, smiling at him, "I'm sure he'll do a good job."

"I appreciate the confidence, but we'd starve," Daisuke admitted, "I didn't improve at all since last time."

"Oh! I'm a pretty good cook!" Keiko said, jumping up from her seat, "I can make a great meal. Can you help me out, Shiro-san?"

"Me?" Shiro still smiled, but Daisuke could notice in his tone that even his large reservoir of patience and niceness was starting to run out, "Sure, Nakamura-san. Honestly, I do not know how to cook or anything of the sort. But I'll help with what you need."

Shiro got up from his seat, following behind the girl, taking the ingredients that the other four had picked from LuckyLand, purchased with Tatsuya's money. Shiro had given them a last look, before joining the girl by the cooking pot.

"We're going to starve, aren't we?" Daisuke asked in a low voice.

"Nah… Keiko-chan said she knows how to cook," Tatsuya said, shrugging, "It should be good. Probably much better than anything you could do."

"You know she only wants to impress Kuronuma-kun, right?" Riko said, crossing her arms with an annoyed expression, "She doesn't actually care about us. About you especially."

"You're just jealous she's cuter than you," Tatsuya replied with a biting remark, "Why are you being mean to her?"

"Are you that dense!?" Riko uncrossed her arms, leaning forward on the table, "She's the dumbest, most shallow person I've ever met! The only reason we're sharing a tent is because nobody else wanted her. Stop thinking of girls as objects, you idiot!"

Tatsuya was going to reply something, but ended up regretting it, choosing instead to just shake his head, and sit up straight, avoiding looking at Riko, the girl choosing to do the same. Daisuke felt Yukino's gaze upon him, and they shared a look, communicating without words how they would speak with their friends later.

"We're back."

Shiro appeared carrying a large black bowl, Keiko coming behind him carrying a set of plates, which she set on the table so each one of them could pick one, along with utensils. The bowl that Shiro had put on top of the table contained what seemed to be curry. Or, at least, what Daisuke imagined should've been curry, as he saw what seemed to be uncooked bits of meat amidst the reddish broth. It smelled horribly burnt, emitting what seemed to be noxious gasses.

"Come on, eat up!" Keiko gave them a large smile with all her teeth.

"I think I just saw skull and crossbones floating up," Yukino whispered.

"Why don't you get the first taste, Kuronuma?" Tatsuya said, slapping the kendo captain on the back. For how attracted to Keiko he was, he sure was quick in sending others to their possible culinary demise.

"Me?" Shiro's smile looked a lot more nervous than usual, "Well, hum. If you all insist..."

Shiro took a spoonful into his plate. His expression remained pleasant, but Daisuke noticed sweat drops falling along his face, he was terrified of the prospect. All eyes were on him, as he tasted it. Shiro smiled after he swallowed it, but the smile was the less sincere he had ever given them. His face was becoming redder, and he was beginning to sweat more and more profusely.

"Kuronuma-kun…?" Riko called him, leaning her head to the side, "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yes!" His voice was a shrill almost scream, he coughed behind his hand, "It's g-g-good! Delicious e-e-even!"

"I'm glad you like it, Shiro-kun!" Keiko smiled, almost as if indifferent to his obvious pain, turning to look to the others, "Why don't you all eat some too?"

"Sure, if you want to upgrade from murderer to mass-murderer," Yukino said with no qualms about it.

"Huh? Why?" Keiko looked offended, "Look at Shiro-kun! He liked it!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

They all instantly turned to Shiro who had slumped forward, sending the plate away with his arm just to fall with his head on the table. Daisuke even got up just to check his pulse. If any of them still had any pretensions about eating Keiko's Deadly Curry of Destruction, as Yukino later dubbed it, they dropped them immediately. Shiro ended up being taken to the teachers. They weren't sure if he actually had food poisoning or if it just tasted so bad it had sent him into shock. Whatever it was, when Daisuke and Tatsuya returned to the tent later, starved and tired, Shiro had not returned with them.

 _And to think this actually started out like a fun time_. As they lay in the tent, sleep was hard to come by. Daisuke felt his stomach's laments for food, as well as the hard, rough earth floor under the sleeping bag's cushioning. As he was about to sleep, however, he felt something hit him in the head, and got into a seating position immediately, alarmed, just to discover it had been Tatsuya's extended arm:

"You hit me, you dick!" Daisuke complained, touching his face where he had been struck.

"I can't sleep!" Tatsuya cried out, stretching his arms, "It's cold, my stomach's eating itself, I have a sharp rock under my back… I want to go home!"

Daisuke got his legs from under him, kicking Tatsuya on the side, making him roll into the tent's cloth wall:

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Can you learn to have some restraint every once in a while?" Daisuke pleaded, turning on the electrical lamp, "I get it. I'm also starving. But do you see me complain about it? You've been insufferable the last few days. Please, just shut up for a moment."

Tatsuya sat back up, looking at him with a shocked expression. He stared at him for a while before he spoke. From his tone, like Daisuke, he also had kept those words brewing within him for a while:

"You don't get it, do you? What do you have to complain about anyway?" Tatsuya waved his hand dismissively, "Daisuke the tall, dark and handsome. Our _unanimous_ leader! The one all the girls want!"

"What are you talking about?" Daisuke asked, furrowing his brow.

"I've seen how Yukino and Riko look at you. Or that senpai. Or Keiko, whenever she wasn't staring at Kuronuma," Tatsuya pointed at him, "You're so used to being the centre of attention, you don't even value it, oh mighty Leader."

"You're imaging things," Daisuke shook his head, "You're so stuck up your own arse that you think everything's out to get you and you can't see things right in front of you. Riko's right, you know: You act like girls are objects for you to conquer. That is why they shove you off. Because you don't respect them as people. Because you act like a egomaniac arse."

Tatsuya stared at him for a while, seemingly thinking of a comeback, but running empty on what to say. He laid back down on the sleeping bag, turning his back to Daisuke.

"Listen," Daisuke said, after a moment of silence, "I'm used to you being a pessimist, but here's the thing: Why don't you actually try to do something, instead of complaining? You saw Riko's score on the exam? She did pretty well because she tried. She worked for it. You just complained about it. Seriously, this will bite you if you keep going like this," Tatsuya said nothing, pulling his covers up, "I'm your friend, mate. For real. What I'm saying to you, it's for your own good, yeah? Just think about that."

Daisuke, obtaining no immediate response, laid back down as well, pulling up his own covers, and getting his back to Tatsuya.

"You're the worst, you know that?" Tatsuya said after a while.

Daisuke smiled at himself, finally falling back asleep.


	21. Ch21: Hunted

**Hunted:**

Daisuke left his house, immediately feeling the hot air surround him. June 21st marked the start of summer, but also, the first day where the students of Budoga Oka got to wear their summer uniforms. As such, Daisuke had ditched the blazer and the long-sleeved shirt, wearing instead a black t-shirt underneath an open short-sleeved white button shirt with the school's logo on the left side pocket and a small dark blue stripe on the sleeves. The pants however, were exactly the same as the ones they wore during winter.

"Senpai!"

Daisuke turned to look behind him, where he could see Ryoji walking fast to catch up with him. The first year, as was his custom, wore his uniform with as much dignity as he could, with the white shirt tucked into his pants and the black tie properly in place. He carried his sketchbook on his left hand, and his school bag on his right.

"Mornin', Ryoji," Daisuke greeted his underclassman, as they got back to walking towards the school, "You're back to carrying your sketchbook?"

"Huh? Oh, yes," Ryoji made a somewhat embarrassed smile, "I wanted to try and reconquer my passion for art. I figured the way to do it is to just do what I used to do before and draw whatever idea comes to mind."

"Seems like a good idea", Daisuke opined with a nod.

"Oh, but I have something to ask," Ryoji said, changing the subject, his face darkening as he took a look around and lowered his tone of voice, "Hasn't it been too long since the last incident?"

Daisuke nodded. He had been thinking about it for a while now. Ever since they had managed to save Ryoji, the killer had remained strangely silent. His pace had already dropped somewhat between Yukino and Ryoji's kidnapping, but ever since they had braved the museum, they had yet to enter the Shadow World. The Dead Phone Watch had also not had a single transmission since the day where they had seen Shadow Ryoji's last warning.

"Do you think, maybe the killer turned himself in?" Ryoji suggested.

"No, even if the police tried to keep it secret, which I don't know why they would, the news would've have caught up to it by now," Daisuke said, scratching his chin, "So no. Unless he got careless and a Shadow got him, which I also doubt could happen, he is still out there."

"But… Why hasn't he done anything?" The underclassman insisted.

"I don't know," Daisuke shook his head.

They finally reached the School, the two of them going in different directions then, to their respective classrooms, Ryoji staying on the ground floor and Daisuke taking the staircase up. Once he reached his classroom, he found Yukino by the door. She wore capri-length black leggings underneath her uniform skirt. Her short-sleeve shirt was buttoned all the way up, but she didn't wear the tie. She greeted him with one of the big smiles she used to give him.

"You're up earlier than usual," she commented, moving a bit to the side, letting Daisuke lean on the wall next to her.

"I am?" Daisuke checked the clock on the wall in front of him, only five minutes remained before class, "Are you sure, it's not just the rest who are late?"

"Oh yeah, I think you're right," she said, looking at the clock as well, noticing the time, "Riko is normally the first one here. Since she's not here yet, I just assumed we'd all just gotten here earlier, or something. I'm silly, ignore me."

As if to answer Yukino, they heard the sound of people coming up the stairs and in an instant, Tatsuya and Riko both appeared on the floor. Tatsuya had discarded the uniform button-shirt, instead opting for using a t-shirt of his own, that was yellow in colour with " _SKOOL DAZE"_ in black graffiti styled writing in the front. Riko had unbuttoned the first of her shirt buttons, and wore her normal orange hoodie jacket tied around her waist, short white socks and white trainers.

"Yo," Tatsuya greeted with a quick wave.

"Sorry, we're late," Riko said, touching her own head, with an apologetic smile, "I needed to do some extra chores for my club before class. Tatsuya helped me out."

"You actually helped someone?" Daisuke asked, looking at Tatsuya, with a mocking grin, "How much did she pay you?"

"Shut up!" Tatsuya said, trying to appear serious, but having a hard time not cracking a smile, "I can be a gentleman when I want, ya know?"

"Shame you don't want it more often," Riko teased him, punching him lightly on his arm.

"I'm already regretting helping you, you harpy," Tatsuya said back, holding his arm, with a wry smile.

"You two are really like an old married couple," Yukino said, raising her closed right hand in front of her lips as she quietly chuckled.

Riko grew alarmingly red, while Tatsuya looked away from them, even if Daisuke could tell that he was also looking redder. Before they could "defend" themselves however, the bell rung and they made their way inside the classroom, where Sakakibara was already waiting for them inside. The teacher looked even more annoyed than usual, even if in a different way than he had looked in the camping trip. As the students all settled into their seats, he cleared his throat, and began to talk:

"Listen up, you lazy bums! I've been given an announcement to make by the principal," he said, showing the class a sheet of paper he was holding in his right hand, before putting it back in front of him, and starting to read aloud, "Starting today, agents from the Moriohcho Police Force will be conducting searches in and around the school."

 _The police?_ Daisuke repeated in his mind, as noise was heard around the classroom, as all the students started to comment the news with each other. Daisuke saw his three teammates all turn on their chairs to look at him, and at each other. That news was certainly a surprise, even if, Daisuke thought, it did make sense.

"They are looking into the murder of your classmate, Mayoi Yumeno, as well as the serial kidnappings that followed it," Sakakibara continued, after he shouted twice to force the cloud of noise to die down, "A new detective from the S-City Police Force was called over to oversee the investigation. She believes that this school has some connection to the case."

Daisuke nodded without thinking. When they had discussed the case before, they had established the clear connection that all of the kidnapped victims had been Budoga students. As for why that was, he wasn't sure yet. The most likely explanation would be that the killer could be a student, but that possibility scared him, more than he would like to admit. As he looked around the room again, he noticed that some glances were thrown at Yukino, as she had been one of the victims. However, even if Daisuke couldn't see her expression, as she had her back to him, she didn't seem bothered.

"For the most part, the police will focus their efforts on talking with school staff and looking for physical evidence, however, some students might be called for questioning," Sakakibara continued, reading from the note. When his eyes looked back to the class, he was staring right at Daisuke, but he looked back at the paper once again, "The school, as such, asks the students to cooperate with the police during their investigation. That is all."

Finishing the school's director's message, Sakakibara turned back to the blackboard and began to write on it, resuming his regular grumpy tone, returning to teaching his subject. The class, however, had no intention of focusing on the teacher's monotonous drivel, as their minds were now wandering, thinking about the message they had just heard. Daisuke, focused on his thoughts, was nearly startled by the sudden vibration of the phone in his pocket. He saw that Yukino in front of him had also picked up her phone, Tatsuya was already holding it, as he had been the one messaging the chat:

 _Magician: dude, he was lookin right at u! wtf was that!?_

Daisuke looked to Tatsuya, who had moved his eyes to look back up at the blackboard, but still holding his phone. Daisuke then started to write his reply:

 _Death: I know. They probably know about my past  
Strength: Didn't you say they had no proof, Daisuke-kun?  
Death: Official no  
Empress: And… Unofficially?  
Death: I don't know  
_

"Hey! You four!" Sakakibara's voice echoed through the room. The teacher threw a piece of white chalk at Daisuke, who dodged it, making the stick bounce against the window and fall onto the floor. Sakakibara clenched his teeth: "Phones off!"

"Daisuke Ichijou?"

As they had made their way out of the classroom, following the conclusion of the last class of the afternoon, they had found a policeman waiting by the door. He was a severe looking middle-aged man, with dark hair and a bit of a stubble. Daisuke felt his friends' eyes on him, as well as a few of his other classmates who had heard the policeman.

"That's me," Daisuke admitted, in a neutral tone.

"Detective Kuronuma has some questions for you," the policeman said, "Please, follow me."

 _Kuronuma?_ The name had caught him so off guard that he even kept still for a few moments, while the policeman was already walking away. Waking up from his sudden confusion, he then gave a quick word to his friends, that he would meet them later, and followed after the man. The officer took him to a room that was normally used by the Student Council, but had the regular tables and chairs rearranged so that only a single table remained in the centre of the room with two opposite chairs. The blinds on the winds were nearly completely close, giving the room an eerie vibe.

Behind the solitary table a tall woman was sitting, wearing a tailored black suit, the first few buttons of her white shirt were loose, revealing a small silver pendant. The woman looked to be in her mid to late twenties, with short straight auburn hair with a fringe. Her sharp light-blue eyes were attentive and analysed Daisuke from the moment he stepped into the room and took the seat in front of her. As the other policeman left and closed the door behind him, the woman uncrossed her legs, and leaned forward:

"Good afternoon, Ichijou-san," her voice wasn't particularly deep, but it still carried a distinct air of someone who was worthy of the utmost respect, "My name is Asuka Kuronuma, I am a detective for the S-City Police Department, working together with the Moriohcho branch on the case we have dubbed the 'Fog Killer'."

She took a moment to study him once again, as if expecting him to say something, even if he didn't know what he should do or say. As he looked more at her features, he could notice a closer and closer resemblance to Shiro Kuronuma. The detective had to be related to him, and from her apparent age, she either had to be his cousin or his sister. From how eerily familiar the calculated looks and words were, he settled on her being Shiro's big sister.

"We believe that there is a definite correlation between the school and the killer. My current theory is that the perpetrator must be a student here," Asuka said, leaning to her side to pick up a file from her bag, and placing it on the table, "This here, is a file pertaining to a series of disturbances and fights that occurred between youth gangs in S-City. Your name, Ichijou-san, is here."

She took a small pause, just observing him again. Her eyes were quite alluring, but they also carried an aggressiveness that made it hard to maintain eye contact with her. Still, Daisuke made his best to not look away. He didn't want her to think he was afraid.

"I will ask you to answer me with the truth," she said, dragging the file in front of her, "My file says that you were named as being a member of the _Ghosts_ street gang. However, my colleagues at the station deemed the testimony unreliable and you were never called in for questioning. Is this correct?"

"Yes," Daisuke answered, maintaining as neutral of a tone as he could, "The police never contacted me about anything."

"Do you deny your involvement with said street gang?" she didn't relent in her stare, "It is best that you are completely honest with me."

 _Or else,_ Daisuke completed mentally. He kept eye contact with her as his mind raced, thinking about what he should say. On the one side, if he didn't admit to it, then, as far as he knew, they didn't really have much to go on, besides the previously rejected testimony, which would let him go free, at least until he could help his friends find the killer. On the other hand, his conscience was heavy. He had been waiting for a chance to make significant progress in his rehabilitation for months now, and confessing would, at least, set his mind more at ease. _Can Yukino, Tatsuya and the others do it without me?_

"Ichijou," she called again, tapping on the table, as if to wake him, "Were you in the _Ghosts_? Yes or no?"

"Yes," he finally answered, "I was recruited by classmates back in my old high school. I was involved in several street fights with rivals gangs," he looked away, "And I regret it immensely."

"I'm glad you decided to tell me the truth," she moved back on her chair, crossing her legs again. Something in her tone had changed, it didn't seem nearly as intense. Had she decided that the regret in his voice was genuine? "In truth, the testimony wasn't really exactly what I call 'unreliable'. We could've used it, maybe we should've. However, it was deemed that pursuing charges against the heir of the Ichijous on something like that would be a waste of time and resources," her expression hardened again for the next sentence, "The same cannot be said for murder."

She interlaced her fingers in front of her face, still looking right at, and seemingly through, him:

"As I said before, I believe the killer to be a student. Someone smart and resourceful, that doesn't crack easily under pressure," Asuka Kuronuma's voice was only slightly louder than a whisper, yet, it still seemed to be as impactful as thunder, "The kidnapping of Mayoi Yumeno and later death, took place within a week of your arrival. Is this truth?"

"Yes," Daisuke nodded. There was no point in lying there.

"I don't like to believe in coincidences, Ichijou-san," she said, "The next victim, Yukino Yamaguchi, is on your class. She even sits directly in front of you. What is your relationship with her?"

"We're friends."

"Your teachers claim that Yamaguchi-san's behaviour was altered after her kidnapping," Asuka had picked up another file, this one seemed to pertain to the current case, "She became more outgoing and active in class. One would expect a victim of such a traumatic event to become more introverted, not the opposite. Apparently, the next victim, Ryoji Mochizuki, also changed his behaviour for the better. And they have both been seen in your presence."

"I don't know what happened to them," he said, opening his hands, "I'm sorry, but even when we asked them what happened, they can't seem to remember a thing."

"That was the conclusion my local colleagues reached after their own interrogations, yes," she closed the file again, staring at him again, "I have a theory, however. And my theory is that perhaps they are suffering from a phenomena akin to Stockholm Syndrome, and have thus become attached to their kidnapper."

"No, that's not true," Daisuke adjusted himself in his seat, his own resolve flaring in his eyes, "I would _never_ hurt my friends. Never." He stared deep into the eyes of the detective, who never seemed to stop analysing his words, tone and posture. "I don't know who the killer is. I sincerely wish I did, so I could tell you. But I have no idea. I did things that I'm not proud of and I regret them. I already told you about them. But believe me: I would never, ever, kill anyone."

They stayed in silence for a few moments, as Asuka seemed to be pondering his words and their veracity. Finally, she leaned back on the chair again:

"It seems that my brother was right about you," Daisuke could see a sort of half-smile form in her mouth, "Are you serious about your rehabilitation?"

"As much as I can possibly be," Daisuke nodded again.

"Very well, I will hold onto your word," she made a movement with her head, signaling that he could get up, "Be warned: You're still not cleared off suspicion, just so we are clear. If I find out you lied to me, your sentence will be even worse. Keep that in mind."

"I know," he got up from the chair, placing it back on its place, "But thank you."

"Just one more question," Asuka stayed on her chair, but leaned forward once more, "Do you know someone named Kyohei Akaashi?"

"No, never heard of him," he said, after looking up, trying to recall if he had ever heard the name, "Is he connected to the case?"

"You can go, now," Kuronuma moved her hand towards the door, making clear that she had no intention to answer the question, "Thank you for the cooperation."

He threw himself on the bed, dead tired. Even if, in reality, he hadn't actually done any physically demanding work, the interrogation he had been subjected too still weighed heavily on his mind. As soon as he had left the school, he had met up with his friends again, where they had bombarded him with never ending questions about what had the police asked of him and what he had answered. They had all shown their evident worry, not only on how the team might've been compromised, but also in Daisuke's own safety and freedom. Yukino, in particular, had asked for his well being at least four times.

Tatsuya had also instantly started to chastise Shiro, assuming that he had probably been snitching on every other student to his sister, even if Daisuke thought that wasn't really the case. From Asuka Kuronuma's words, her brother had actually dissuaded her from looking at Daisuke as the key suspect, and not encouraged her.

What had stuck out to them, however, was that last name the detective had mentioned, almost in passing: Kyohei Akaashi. Daisuke had no clue who he was, and neither did any of his friends, not even Ryoji. Whomever he was, he was certainly connected to the case. Maybe he was the police's main suspect. However, Daisuke knew that it would be impossible for the police to prove anything, due to the way how the Shadow World was used. Still, he wondered if that man was already being suspected by the police before, or if Asuka's arrival had shifted the police's attention to him.

The sound of static woke him up from his daze as he shuffled in his bed to pick up his phone, where he saw the unsettling static of the Dead Phone Watch had appeared. Contrary to what he expected however, the picture wasn't distorted and silhouetted, but clear: A short and a bit stout girl, with curly light brown shoulder length hair and the golden eyes of a Shadow behind large oval glasses whose frames shone with a neon pink light. Her clothes had a distinctively futuristic look, made of a black material also with the same neon lights making patterns in them. Surrounding the strange looking girl seemed to be a large machine full of cables and screens where what seemed to be binary code was constantly being displayed. What seemed to be keyboards made of a strange translucent pink material floated around her.

 _"_ _Hello world! I have accessed the depths of humanity. Now I will have my revenge for how you treated me. Execute Project Maki!"_

Static took over the transmission again, and the screen went black once more. Daisuke held his head in his hands, feeling his headache worsen. He saw Garm appear at the door, looking at him with a curious expression:

"Something's wrong?" the dog asked.

"It started again."


	22. Ch22: A Deep Mentality

**A Deep Mentality:**

The re-emergence of the Dead Phone Watch, combined with the police searches and interrogations of the previous day had significantly lowered the team's morale. After two straight victories, and a large period where they didn't have to worry about the newly dubbed 'Fog Killer', it seemed that everything bad had returned at once, with a new kidnapping. More than that, however, for the first time, the Dead Phone Watch didn't give them a series of warning transmissions before the victim was taken. This time, the first transmission had also been the last. Whomever the girl was, she was already inside the Shadow World.

As soon as the bell signalling lunchtime had rung, the four second-years had once again walked up into the rooftops, their "hideout". As they settled on their usual places, Tatsuya got his phone from his pocket, texting Ryoji to come meet them at the usual spot.

"I don't like this," Riko said, holding her head in both hands, "We never had a kidnapping with just a single warning before. Why was this time different?"

"Maybe the killer found a faster method," Yukino suggested in a grim tone, "We don't know how he pulls people in, right?"

"Garm didn't say how he did it," Daisuke started to pace around the rooftop, with his arms crossed, "We just know he throws them in, but what then? Is he the one who leaves them knocked out with their Shadow? Or does he just drop them in like that?" He snapped his fingers, to consolidate his previous statement, before sighing, leaning against the chain-linked fence, "I hate to admit it, but there's a hell of a lot we don't know."

"Yeah, like who that girl is, for starters," Tatsuya said, his frustration was obvious, "Is she also from school?"

"Yes, I know who she is."

Ryoji opened the door, just then. His sudden appearance made them all nearly jump, something the first-year noticed, as he looked guiltily to them, lowering his head:

"Sorry for bursting in like that," he said, closing the door behind him.

"No, it's ok, Ryoji-kun," Yukino gave him a reassuring smile, "We're all just really on edge, since... you know."

"More importantly," Daisuke looked to Ryoji, "You said you know this girl?"

"Oh, yeah," Ryoji nodded, holding his sketchbook closer to him, "She's from my class, her name is Maki Himekawa."

"Oh! Now I remember," Yukino said, raising her hand, "You were with her during the camping trip, right?"

"Huh?" Tatsuya made a large grin, "Baby Ryoji got himself a girlfriend?"

"No, that's not it!" Ryoji shook his head, blushing, obviously embarrassed, "I just… Hum… Before I met you guys, and you helped me... I really didn't try being social. I just stuck to the corner, to try and avoid people picking on me. Maki, she… She does the same thing. She's very quiet and doesn't like to talk, so the other girls are always picking on her…"

"You tried to help her," Riko said, with a compassionate look.

Ryoji nodded sadly. Daisuke stepped away from the fence, and walked up towards his underclassman, placing his hand on the younger boy's shoulder:

"We'll save her," he continued to look forward, as if to confer further meaning to his words, "I promise you."

"Ye-yeah," Ryoji said, trying his hardest to sound convincing as he nodded.

"We need to do it today," Tatsuya said, grabbing everyone's attention, once more, "It will rain tomorrow."

"Then it's settled," Yukino also got up from her seat, "After school, we'll gather our stuff, and we'll meet at Owson."

"Are you going to leave again?"

* * *

Daisuke descended the stairs back into the living room of his house. He had changed his clothes, from his uniform, to a pair of dark slacks, black shoes with white soles, and a steel-grey t-shirt, with black sleeves and a black print of diagonal crosses on the chest. He had his Garm-made Glasses on his pocket. Saeko sat by the kitchen table, in casual clothing, a pair of jeans, and a light blue shirt with lacy details on the sleeves, with a book open in front of her, while she ate a green ripe apple.

"Yeah, I'll go meet up with my friends," Daisuke said, before he bent down to pick up Garm, who wiggled his tails and had his tongue out, looking at Saeko, "We'll take Garm out on a walk with us."

"Oh, ok," Saeko said, stretching her arm forward to pat Garm on the head, and as she did, she looked up at Daisuke again, "Make sure you don't get into trouble, alright?"

Although he had initially resisted the idea, he had eventually told Saeko about the interrogation that Asuka Kuronuma had put him through. His aunt didn't seem too surprised by the idea that he had been one of the students called for questioning. After all, even if it technically had been voided, he did have a record. However, the relief she had shown once he told her that Asuka didn't believe him to be the killer, was genuine. Even then, Saeko's worry for him and once again increased.

"We'll be fine, don't worry."

Saeko nodded, then, and Daisuke made his way past the door, walking out into the scorching summer heat. He let Garm go on the ground, the dog following behind him, as he started to make his way across the town. _It's going to rain tomorrow_. The thought kept popping into his head. It was extremely hot, and there didn't seem to be any clouds in the sky, and yet, the nights were filled in thick fog, and heavy rainfalls happened seemingly at random, even if, by the next day, the sky was clear again. Was it the killer's Stand that could influence the weather? If he had a Stand that was. Or maybe it was just the Shadow World's interference with the "real" world. Whatever it was, as the case continued unsolved, he became less and less sure of everything he believed he knew.

When Daisuke arrived at Owson, only Ryoji was not yet there. Tatsuya leaned against the wall, wearing a black tank top with yellow bird silhouettes and camo capri pants, and white trainers. Riko, by his side, also wore a sleeveless shirt, but light orange with small stars printed near the hem, over white shorts, short loose white socks, and teal trainers. Yukino, who stood facing the other two, wore a plaid blue, black and white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, over a white t-shirt, and a dark blue skirt. She wore dark blue trainers over short black socks.

"Where's Ryoji?" Daisuke asked, once he greeted the others.

"He went to the Antique shop," Tatsuya answered promptly.

"You guys let him go alone?" Daisuke raised an eyebrow. His mind racing to what sort of weapon the artist could pick.

"Sorry I'm late."

Daisuke saw the expressions on his companions' faces, before he, himself, turned around to look at the recently arrived Ryoji, resisting the urge to slap his own face in despair. The first year, wearing a light green button shirt with small white dots and dark trousers, held with both hands a package covered in cloth that seemed long enough to be even taller than he was. He removed the cloth, once he got into the alleyway, showing an elaborate looking spear-like Japanese weapon underneath: a nagitana.

"I didn't know what to pick," Ryoji admitted, showing the others his new weapon.

"So you picked the one that was the hardest to hide," Yukino said, with a nervous smile.

"You're not one to talk, Axe Lady," Riko said back at her, with a judging sideways glance.

 _I wonder how long it takes before Asuka Kuronuma comes to arrest me_ , Daisuke thought to himself, covering his hand to hide his smile of desperation, _I'm sure she'll love having me explain why I'm building a small army_.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot," Garm said, nearing Ryoji. He stuck his paw forward, and hovering on it, there were the new team member's glasses, with light green frames, "These are yours, Star."

Ryoji nodded with a cheerful expression, as he thanked the team's canine advisor, putting the glasses on his face with a very child-like joy. Following the rookie's example, Daisuke put his own glasses on, as did the others. Trading final looks, they then all huddled together, to activate the portal to the other side. Riko was the one to activate the app, pulling them from the well lit, summertime Morioh into the darkness.

As soon as Daisuke felt solid footing underneath him, he opened his eyes again, taking a few steps away from his friends, as he looked around. They were in the usual gateway street, however, something felt different. Even if their glasses heavily diluted the fog's effects, it still seemed to be a lot stronger and more oppressive that day. Looking to his feet, he could see that the floor was cracked in several places, and from those cracks, blood-red vein like things came out, that seemed to glow in a faint red colour. Those same strange veins were also found among the walls, as well as on the houses. As he looked up to the clouds, Daisuke noticed that the moon had a reddish yew to it, akin to a Lunar Eclipse.

"What's going on? Why does everything look so screwed?" Tatsuya asked, as he turned back to the others, after taking several steps forward. He, like the others, looked terrified.

"I do not know," Garm said, shaking his head, "I've never seen it like this."

"You mean… This isn't normal, Garm-chan?" Yukino asked in a concerned tone, lowering herself to look straight at the dog's eyes, "You mean, something is causing this to happen?"

"Yes… Maybe," Garm seemed to be about as confused as the others, as he avoided Yukino's inquisitive gaze, "I really don't know."

"Well, never mind that for now," Daisuke said, grabbing his sword, as Garm materialized their weapons, "Can you find Himekawa?"

Garm nodded, standing straight, and starting to sniff around. He did it a few times, even taking a few steps in every direction, or starting to sniff at the ground, but as he did, it started to become clear that his attempts at finding the girl were all coming up fruitless. He was as lost as the others.

"I can't find anything…" Garm said, shaking his head.

"You mean…" Ryoji became pale, "She's…"

"No, she is alive." For once, Garm sounded confident in his answer, "But… with how strong the fog is, my tracking becomes a lot worse. I can't be precise."

"Great, you're useless…" Tatsuya said, throwing up his arms, not hiding his frustration in the slightest.

"I'm not useless!" the hairs on Garm's back rose sharply. He never had seemed as angry at something, as he was at that comment.

"Garm-chan, isn't there something we can do to help you?" Riko suggested, touching Tatsuya's shoulder to stop him from talking back, feeling the mood.

"Ahm… Maybe," Garm said after some consideration, "Tell me about the girl. The more I know about a person, the stronger the connection and it makes tracking them easier."

"Ryoji," Daisuke called, "You're the only one who met her. Can you help him?"

"I don't know her that well, to be honest…" Ryoji looked down at his feet, leaning against his nagitana, "She's very quiet, a complete introvert. She barely talks to anyone. In class she sits by the corner, and she always stays there, even during breaks. She either reads or listens to music by herself, or is on her phone."

"Anything else?" Garm enquired.

"Well… Back during the camping trip, I went to talk to her. Just so she wasn't alone," Daiuske couldn't tell if Ryoji was blushing or if it was the red fog passing by his face, "We didn't even get to talk that much, she was shy. Even more than me, but… She did say that I probably was the only 'friend' she had…"

Garm nodded with his eyes closed, as if he was focusing on Ryoji's words. They stayed in complete silence for a while, before, finally, Garm opened his eyes once again, and started to walk forward at a brisk pace.

"I've found her. Follow me."

They did as he told them, starting to walk after their canine companion and guide. However, they soon stopped, as they heard a loud, bone-chilling sound: the screech of a Shadow lusting for a kill. As if answering the first cry, others were then heard, creating a deafening, horrifying cacophony. Soon, the sound of Shadows' irregular steps could be heard, louder and louder, as a mob of the dark creatures appeared at the end of the alleyway, barring their way. Within the mob, they found both of the common varieties that were usually found outside of the "dungeons": the shambling quadrupeds with the large arms that they had now gotten used to calling "Husks" and the floating spherical ones with the large teeth-filled mouths, they had dubbed "Biters".

"Where did they all come from?" Riko questioned, spinning the chain on her kusarigama, preparing to fight.

"Shadows are attracted to large peaks of energy," Garm explained, as he took a few steps behind the humans, for his support role, "They must've found us when I increased the range of my tracking powers."

"And you didn't think to warn us!?" Tatsuya asked not making a single effort to hide his anger, "Do you want us to die?"

"It was that, or not finding the girl!" Garm said back at him.

One of the Biters flew towards them at top speed, trying to barrel through the middle of the group, when Daisuke jumped ahead, both hands on the hilt of his sword as he cut through it in a single strike, smoke slowly dispersing around him, as the Shadows seemed to hesitate to move ahead. Taking a look back to his companions, Daisuke focused his attention on the Shadows again, his sword raised. _They are unfocused. Time to make my leader status count for something._

"We have no time for this," he said, "Let's break through."

He rushed forward then, two more Biters flying towards him at high speed, rotating around themselves, their teeth shining, reflecting the mysterious red light that flooded the streets.

"Lazarus!"

Daisuke's metallic knight of a Stand created a broadsword of sharp glass and, in a single strike, slashed past both creatures, ripping them apart with characteristic wildness. As Lazarus slowly faded away in a dark blue glow, Daisuke placed his sword in his shoulder, with a taunting grin towards the remaining Shadows. His inner cockiness seeping in more and more:

"Time for your punishment."

The masks on the shadows cracked suddenly, Daisuke being taken aback by it. For a second, he even believed that his threats had been enough to defeat the creatures, but as they started to melt into black goo, they ended up melding together, assuming a much larger, but unified shape. The resulting fusion was even harder to understand than the regular Shadows, seemingly being just a mess of pitch black limbs, sewn together without any sort of structure, to a central spherical body, like some sort of horrific, mutated spider, with a dark red mask. Each of its 8 top hands held onto a sharp-looking sword with a pure white blade.

"What the—" Tatsuya muttered, once the creature assembled, "Whoah!"

The large Shadow lunged forward, all of its sword arms pointing towards them. Despite its extremely strange and illogical appearance, it moved fast. Faster than they could imagine it would be possible for it to ever move.

Daisuke summoned Lazarus in front of him, not having enough time to create a wall of glass, he instead split his broadsword into two smaller long swords. He had to attack, before the creature got a chance to reach the others. Lazarus's blades connected with the two centremost blades, stopping the Shadow from charging past him, and pushing it back. The Stand and Shadow then traded blows, Lazarus speed was higher, but the over abundance of arms made it almost impossible for Daisuke to actually break through.

"I will end this!" he shouted, moving his arm decisively, "Rip him apart, Lazarus!"

Lazarus managed to smack one of the arms into another, with his burst of strength, use his other sword to cut through both of them, sending the separated limbs flying into the air with black smoke. With a cry of rage, Daisuke united the two swords into another large blade, going for a decisive stab towards the mask, when another one of the creatures arms, moving faster than before, got in his way, Daisuke's own rushed, incomplete sword, crashed into a large number of shards, as the blow pushed back across the street, rolling on his back as he felt his whole body aching from the push, but especially his left arm, where the shards from his own sword had cut deep.

"Daisuke!" he heard Yukino scream in a panic, as she rushed near him, kneeling by his side.

"Santigold!"

Riko's harpy-like Stand appeared at the call of its mistress, as it sent forth a powerful gust of wind, that pushed the charging Shadow back, setting it up, for Riko to follow-up with sending sharper gusts of wind, like air blades, that the Shadow tried desperately to block with its swords, ending up having two more of its arms severed. Before Riko could send another volley, however, the Shadow broke through again, charging straight at her.

"Send it to hell, Arabella!"

Yukino had gotten up from near the know kneeling Daisuke, rushing to her other friend's aid. Her witch Stand calling upon her arcane fire, unleashed a deadly azure firestorm on the large Shadow, making it produced a sickening screech of pain, as it desperately tried to find a way past the fire, as more of its limbs started to be burned away by the blazing inferno. Only two limbs with swords remained, but the Shadow put both of them forth, spinning them in front of it, finding a way past the now slowly dwindling firestorm.

"Oh no you don't," Tatsuya said, spinning his knife, "Starsailor!"

His robotic Stand emerged from him, generating a gravity sphere that it threw forwards, generating power within itself, before finally unleashing a powerful pulse that repelled everyone around it, throwing Daisuke, Yukino and Riko backwards towards it, but also pushing the Shadow forwards along the street, making the creature lose the grip on its remaining swords, as it kept rolling and hitting the ground.

The creature was making an attempt to get back up, making its core shrink down, as more arms started to sprout from it. Soon, it would regenerate to its full strength again. Daisuke tried to get up, but he ended up tripping, as he fell back down, clutching his still bleeding arm. It was then that Ryoji, ran past him and the others, getting in front of the large Shadow:

"Delete him, Wanderer!"

Ryoji's own Stand emerged from him for the first time. The elegant man in the floral mask with the hair made of small tentacles, glided along the ground, moving its left arm gracefully, and pointing the red tipped brush forward, from which a stream of red paint thinner was shot, blasting against the large Shadow's mask, making the creature wither in pain and send out a large pained, distorted cry, as the mask began to corrode away. As the core of the creature was slowly being destroyed, so too was the rest of the body, as the newly sprouted limbs began to be smoked away, until finally, all that was left of the creature were ashes slowly floating away.

"Yeah, bitchtits! Choke on that shit!" Tatsuya cheered, raising his knife, slapping Ryoji's back with his free hand, "Good job, Ryo!"

Ryoji, almost thrown to the ground by Tatsuya's exceedingly strong congratulatory pat on the back, made a wide joy-filled smile, as the others congratulated him. For his first time using his Stand, he had been quite effective. Daisuke got up as well, feeling once again the pain from being thrown backwards by the Shadow's power. Worse than that soreness, however, was the injury on his arm, a deep cut that continued to bleed profusely. He had to find a way to stop the bleeding, or he would soon pass out.

Before he could move on, Yukino had grabbed his arm with both of her hands,. Daisuke looked at her, confused, but she had closed her eyes. Arabella's ghostly spectre appeared next to Yukino, and its hand touched Daisuke's wound, making him flinch. A faint blue glow overtook Daisuke's arm, as he felt the pain slowly fade away. Through Arabella's ethereal arm, he could see the blood disappear, as the wound began to close by itself. Daisuke looked incredulous at how his arm looked perfectly fine once Arabella disappeared, the deep cut didn't even seem to have left so much as a scar.

"How...?" He asked, perplexed, "Hey!"

Yukino had stumbled, almost falling forwards, were it not for Daisuke catching her, holding onto her:

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah... Sorry," she straighten her posture, still holding onto Daisuke's arm for a few more moments, "It was just a lot of energy being sapped."

"I didn't know you had healing powers, Yukino!" Riko said, with an expression as surprised as the others.

"Neither did I," she shrugged, before making a half-smile, "I just... Something within me knew I had to heal him, and I just did..."

"That's awesome, Yuuki-tan!" Tatsuya cheering, "That means if we ever get hurt, you can heal us."

"Don't be reckless!" Riko told him, "You saw how much energy that took. We can't rely on Yuuki's healing. It's dangerous for us and for her."

"Hey!"

The five of them looked towards the voice, finding Garm waiting for them at the alleyway's entrance, "We need to go now or more Shadow will attack us. Get a move on."

Trading glances among them, the team responded to Garm's request, beginning to follow him once again through the dark and ominous streets, now more hellish looking than ever before. Daisuke let himself stay in the rear guard, alternating his gaze between his newly healed arm and Yukino's back. _She healed me... Can our Stands become stronger than they already are?_ He mused to himself, adjusting his glasses, _Have we not reached their true potential yet?  
_


	23. Ch23: Sunrise

**Sunrise:**

The Shadow World had never been safe, not by a long shot. That dark and ruinous alternate version of Morioh was already ominous looking before, but the strange veins that pumped an unknown glowing blood-like liquid through the cracked floors and walls gave it a whole new nightmarish look. Where before, simply putting on Garm's special glasses allowed the team to see past the fog completely, now it only diluted its effect, as even while wearing them, they could still see quite a bit of the suffocating red fog that sapped them of their energy, both mentally and physically.

Despite his initial uncertainty, Garm had not looked back ever since he had started following the trail. As he and his friends walked behind the dog, Daisuke couldn't help but wonder once more on how his unique brand of abilities worked and how did they differ from a Stand, besides him being able to use them outside of the Shadow World.

They had trekked for a few minutes, periodically picking different paths to avoid any unnecessary fights with Shadows. Even after taking some detours, they eventually always ended up returning to the previous direction, traveling upwards, towards the top of the largest hill in the town, where, in the real world, they would find Budoga-Oka High School.

When they arrived at the summit, however, the school was not there, in fact, the hilltop was completely barren. Daisuke looked around, confused: Where was the dungeon supposed to be? Was it not the school?

"Is that…" Tatsuya's voice caught Daisuke's attention. The blond was pointing straight up: "Is that what we're looking for?"

Daisuke looked up, following the direction of Tatsuya's pointing, his eyes widening at what he was seeing: Floating quite a few feet above them was a very large circular platform. Made of a strange, shiny black metal, it was wide enough that it could easily fit several large buildings on top of it. Neon-pink lights shone in circular patterns underneath it, with a large sphere in the centre of the platform that shone with an intense pink glow and seemed to be pulsating with energy.

"It's on the platform," Garm said, lowering his ears, as he realized how tough of a task even reaching the place was beginning to look, "There's a building on top of it. That's where the girl is. I'm sure of it. She's up there."

"Yeah…" Tatsuya said, looking up with an annoyed expression, "And _we_ are down here."

"Gotta give it to Maki-chan, she really has quite the imagination," Riko said, with a nervous chuckle, "So… How do we get up there?"

"Oh, why don't we use Tatsuya-kun's Stand?" Yukino suggested, switching her axe from her right to her left hand, "Can't he throw us up there like he did on Ryoji-kun's Dungeon?"

"That's not a great idea," Daisuke said, crossing his arms, after storing his sword in his belt, "Starsailor can throw us up, sure, but maybe not far enough. Even if he can throw us that high, we might get pulled apart with the force, and if we get separated, there's no guarantee we will land safely. It's too dangerous."

"As much as I hate to admit it, he's right," Tatsuya nodded. Despite the Magician's usual overconfidence, this time he seemed to be well aware of how difficult of a task that jump was, no matter how much his control over his Stand had improved since he had acquired it. "Chances are, we all fall to our deaths. Not a fan of those odds."

"Hum… How about we look at it from the other side?" Yukino said after a while of consideration, making a gesture from the floating platform to the ground in front of them, "We pull it down?"

"That would be even more dangerous!" Riko said, flabbergasted, "Even if we managed to bring the whole thing down, we'd either be crushed, or we'd get hurt by the shockwave. Let alone the fact that we could probably injure or kill Maki-chan."

Riko was right, of course. Yukino's idea could work if they found a way to lower the platform slowly enough so that it wouldn't actually crash with full force. However, even crashing it at all seemed to be a very remote possibility, as neither Lazarus's spears nor Santigold's sharp winds could possibly reach the platform with enough speed and power to damage the support system underneath it, if that was what that shining, pulsing core really was.

"We need to come up with something quickly," Ryoji said. As expected from someone thrust into one of their rescue missions for the first time, he was by far the most nervous. "I can already see more of those Shadows with lots of arms down there."

"Hydrarms," Yukino said to him, promptly.

"Senpai?" Ryoji replied, confused.

"That's their name," she said with a smile that contrasted with her teammates' apprehensions, "A hydra has lots of heads, and these Shadows have lots of arms, so they're the 'Hydrarms'."

"This isn't really the time, Yuuki..." Riko said, exasperated, "I knew leaving you in charge of naming the Shadows was a bad idea..."

"May I provide a solution?"

Daisuke felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. That wasn't the voice of one of his teammates, however, it was a voice he knew very well. As he turned around, he found someone he would never expect to find in the Shadow World: Shiro Kuronuma.

The kendo captain, wearing dark jeans and a white button t-shirt, held onto an ornate cavalry sabre, with a golden guard and a sharp and slick, pale blade. His enigmatic, yet still innocent looking, smile, such a trademark of his, looked eerily out of place.

"Kuronuma!?" Tatsuya shouted, manifesting his confusion quicker than the others had a chance to, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Same thing as you lot, I wager," Shiro gave them another one of his friendly smiles, "Saving Maki Himekawa."

Immediately, the team traded looks that communicated a wide range of emotions even without words. How had he gotten there? How did he know they were there for Maki? What was his real motive for being there? Confusion and worry was so evident in their actions that made the newcomer chuckle to himself. Tatsuya, in response, immediately raised his knife in a protective stance:

"How the fuck did you get here?"

"With this," Shiro took his left hand to his pocket, taking out his smartphone and unlocking it. He held it in front of him, showing the others, clear as day, the strange app that acted as a gateway into that distorted dimension, "I have seen you use it. I do not understand how it works, but that's neither here nor there, for the moment."

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he stored his phone in his pocket once more. When he opened his eyes again, he sighed, and looked at them with a strange expression, one that seemed to be of disappointment:

"Do you realise how easy it is for someone to eavesdrop on your little rooftop chats?" Shiro touched his head, pulling his hair back, "At least, you could've had more care when choosing the spot for your secret meetings."

"Maybe you shouldn't spy on other people," Yukino said, with an unfriendly expression.

"Isn't looking into a Dead Phone Watch technically spying?" Shiro made a half-smile. "In any case, as you know, my sister is a detective, so I was well aware of Daisuke's past transgressions. There were certainly reasons for believing that he might have had a connection with the case, especially when all the victims started to flock to him.

"As such, I feel justified in my actions. Feel very glad I did take an interest and started to follow you around. It made me realise your innocence. It might have stopped you from rotting in a cell."

"Your sister said something like you had talked to her about me," Daisuke said, staring forward with a neutral look, intent on hiding his emotions, "Were you the one who convinced her about my innocence?"

"Well, nobody can really convince Asuka of anything. I'm certain she realised it by herself, even if I might have helped," he chuckled again, "We are hounds to the truth, we Kuronumas."

It was as he had initially thought. Shiro had managed to dissuade his sister from pursuing Daisuke as the prime suspect. Despite his oddly innocent looking smiles and seemingly carefree attitude, it was clear that Shiro had the same intellect and truth seeking instinct that his sister Asuka had. "Hounds" was quite the appropriate term to describe the Kuronuma siblings. However, it seemed that they could definitelty be instrumental in stopping the killer.

"You're loonies, that's what you are…" Tatsuya mumbled in an unpleasant way.

"Now, I'd like to properly get to talk with all of you and get some answers about this god-forsaken place," the younger Kuronuma said, "However, it seems like we don't have much time, if what I overheard about rain was true."

" _We_ don't have much time?" Daisuke repeated, staring back at him.

"Yes," Shiro nodded, this time, not smiling, but with an expression that conveyed the weight behind his words, "I believe you are doing the right thing. The police can't really do much to catch the culprit at this point. Even if Asuka is an excellent detective, which she is, catching someone who kills by using an alternate reality... well, let's say, I don't think sis would believe us."

Shiro then made a small pause, smiling quietly, before he spoke again: "Let me join you."

The request was not completely unexpected, but it still left the team uneasy. Tatsuya pulled Daisuke's arm, to get him and the others to huddle next to him, a few steps away from the newly arrived.

"We can't let him join us," Tatsuya said.

"He does know stuff that we don't," Riko countered, even if her expression made it clear she also wasn't fully trusting of him, "Besides, it would be another Stand in our team."

"Does he even have a Stand?" Tatsuya frowned.

"Yes, definitely," Garm said at their feet, in the middle of the wheel, "I can sense it in his presence. His Arcana is The Sun. Number nineteen."

 _His presence_. Daisuke repeated mentally, as he remembered a conversation he and Garm had just as he had arrived in that world, and awakened to his Stand, months before: "Garm, you felt the killer's presence when Yumeno-senpai died, right?"

"Hum? Oh yes!" Garm exclaimed, as he seemed to get the meaning behind the question, "You want to know if his presence and the killer's match, right?" Upon Daisuke's nod, Garm shook his head: "They don't. This boy's presence is different from the killer. I couldn't quite determine what his Arcana was at the time, from the distance, but I'm sure it wasn't him."

"So..." Yukino said, after another moment where they each remained silent, pondering, "We let him join?"

"Yeah," Daisuke said with a nod, "He has access to Kuronuma-san's files. We're no closer to knowing the killer's identity than we were back in April. We can't waste an opportunity like this."

"Well, I don't like this," Tatsuya complained, arms crossed, "I still think he's plotting something. But fine, we have no choice."

Shiro was waiting patiently for them when they separated and turned to face him once more. Daisuke gave Garm a signal, and the dog, understanding his intent, walked towards Shiro, stretching his paw forward, where there now were a pair of glasses with an off-white frame.

"Those glasses let you see past the fog," Daisuke said, as he saw Shiro put them on, "Giving them to you means you're on the team."

"I'm glad to be of service," he said, with an overly elaborate bow, placing his free hand on his chest.

"Yeah, yeah, we're charmed," Tatsuya said, rudely, "You said you had an idea on how to enter this place. How?"

"Ah, yes," he nodded, "Well, from what I gathered from observing this place and from eavesdropping on you, this world is formed of cognitions, correct? That place is shaped by Himekawa-san's emotions and thoughts, is it not?"

"You could at least apologize about spying…" Riko said, scratching her head, "But yeah. That's basically it."

"If so… Wouldn't Mochizuki be able to enter it?" Shiro looked straight at Ryoji.

"Huh? Me?" Ryoji looked even more nervous, as all the second-years turned to look at him, "How?"

"Well, if I'd wager a guess, that thing," Shiro pointed to the platform, "Represents how Himekawa-san views her school life. She feels detached from other people, like she doesn't belong."

"Like an alien," Yukino completed.

"Precisely," Shiro nodded, "However, Mochizuki… Excuse me, Ryoji, is different. He is her friend, and as such, he can reach out to her."

"Reach out…?" Ryoji seemed to grow more confused by the minute, "How do I do that…?"

"I… do not know," Shiro said, after a while of consideration.

"Wow, great job, pretty boy," Tatsuya complained, "What would we do without you?"

Shiro gave Tatsuya a tired look, but ignored his comment. Ryoji, even if still very much nervous and confused, seemed to be deep in thought for a second, before, finally he began to walk forward, to get below the platform. As the rest of the group traded looks, they began to follow him, as he continued to walk until he was just below what seemed to be the glowing power source of the saucer.

"Maki!" Ryoji shouted, with his hands next to his mouth, to allow his voice to travel farther, "Maki, it's me! It's Ryo! Let me help you!"

His voiced echoed far, but there was no answer from the floating device. Ryoji looked down at his feet for a moment, before he looked back up, his eyes flaring with a determination he had yet to show:

"Hey! Maybe you can't hear me! But you can see me!" Ryoji stuck his spear tip on the ground, "Wanderer!"

Overtaken by the blue flaming aura, Wanderer appeared from Ryoji. Unlike before, where the elegant-looking artist Stand held onto two brushes, this time he held only a single, very large brush, almost as big as the Stand was tall. The Stand then started to move in front of Ryoji, tracing large bright green lines that popped in the night.

And as the Stand drew, the sounds of bone-chilling screeching came from behind the group, followed by the sounds of weird shambling, irregular steps that characterized Shadows. As Daisuke walked away from the hilltop, he could see a mob of Shadows run at high speeds towards them. A few of them were the regular old Husks, but there were also new species among them: Some were hunched over, whitish Shadows that seemed to be constituted of nothing but spikes and edges. Others were flying ones that looked like some sort of demonic deep-purple ablaze crows with four wings, which held onto human-esque clear skulls on their talons.

"Star must have attracted them!" Garm said, as he looked bellow.

"Can this day get any worse…" Tatsuya sighed, as he prepared for battle.

Daisuke took a step forward, holding onto his sword with both hands, preparing to fight, before he was stopped by Shiro's arm. The kendo captain took steps in front of him, lifting his cavalry sabre in front of his face in a dueller's stance:

"Let me show you my worth, Leader," he said, taking a quick glance back with a smile, before he looked forward once again: "Heed my call, Prince!"

A sudden azure fire sprouted from within Shiro, overtaking him, as his Stand emerged from the sea of his soul: It was a tall human figure with pitch-black skin and long white hair. It wore a long blood-red coat with white cuffs and collar, with golden, vine motifs decorating it and gold epaulettes on the shoulders, over white trousers, black boots and gloves. A golden sun mask covered the top half of its face, in its right hand it held onto a sabre with a longer-than-normal pure white blade.

Shiro struck the air in front of him with a fast cut of his sabre, and his Stand followed suit, slicing through the air, and from it, a wave of shining white energy went towards the charging creatures, managing to cut past the Husks in a single strike, while forcing the others to dodge out of the way.

 _Is he stronger than Lazarus?_ Daisuke and the others looked in awe at the speed and power of the attack, as Shiro moved his blade again, and his Stand followed his movements with stunning precision, as the solid, sharp light cut the charging creatures with ease.

"Watch out!" Garm cried out.

The spiky Shadows exploded upon contact with the light blades, every single spike shooting off towards Shiro. Daisuke moved quickly, getting in front of him, summoning Lazarus, creating a wall of glass in front of himself and Shiro. The sharp remains of the creatures getting stuck deep into the wall of glass, a few of them almost managing to pass through it.

"Thanks," Shiro said, not hiding some embarrassment.

"Pay attention, rookie," Daisuke said with a hint of irony, as he turned around himself to make a gesture towards his wall of glass, "Retaliate, Lazarus!"

His Stand broke the wall of glass, sending the shards towards the remaining Shadows, the flying, purple crow-like creatures. Only one of the shards connected with a bird-demon, smashing the strange skull it carried, making the Shadow explode in a puff of smoke. Three remained, and began then to fly in a circular pattern around each other, as the skulls they carried began to shine brighter, red flames appearing from the empty eye sockets and being shot towards the group, spinning around each other in a spiral pattern.

"Arabella!"

Yukino's Stand fought fire with fire, as dark blue fireballs were shot from the witches' hands, connecting with the Shadows' will-o-wisps, a loud sound was heard, as both sources of fire converged and exploded with a blinding light.

"Throwdown!" Tatsuya shouted, as Starsailor was summoned, pulling the three Shadows into each other, making them unable to escape. Scratching his nose, Tatsuya walked back, high-fiving Riko as he walked past: "Your turn, Strength."

Riko nodded with a pumped up expression. Santigold flew towards the trapped Shadows, beating her winds to generate cutting wind blades that slashed at the fabric of the Shadows' existence, annihilating them.

"Thank you for flying Air Kida," Riko said, joining both hands and making a martial arts bow.

"That was so lame, Rikocchi," Yukino said as she burst out laughing.

"Yeah, you seriously need to think about your one liners," Tatsuya added with a teasing smile.

"Oh bite me!" Riko replied with a playful expression, "Like you two are any better with them."

"Daicchi has the best ones," Yukino said, holding a finger up, before making an exaggerated furrowed brow expression and adopting a deeper tone of voice as she put her axe on her shoulder: "Time for your punishment!"

As the others, including Shiro, laughed, Daisuke couldn't help but feel a strange mixture of flattery and embarrassment when he saw the imitation. Especially with how accurate it was.

"Hum... guys?"

Ryoji's call to them brought them back to their mission that, for a minute there, they had actually forgotten. With the chaos of the fight and the small celebration afterwards, they hadn't even noticed that Ryoji's Stand had completed its message: " _MAKI, I WILL SAVE YOU. I PROMISE._ "

Not only had the message been completed, but its purpose had been fulfilled, as, connecting the hilltop and the platform, was now a wide, translucent, neon bridge.

"Wow, since when is that there?" A bamboozled Tatsuya asked.

"It appeared a bit after I finished my message," Ryoji nodded, looking up towards the floating dungeon, "Kuronuma-senpai was right. She heard me."


	24. Ch24: A Call for Justice

**A Call for Justice:**

They ran up the newly formed bridge, trying to make up for wasted time. The pathway that had formed thanks to Ryoji's message was wide enough that all of them could run side by side and still have some extra manoeuvring room. Despite the translucent, energy-like constitution, it was quite solid, while also not being slippery. The way how it had appeared, however still mystified Daisuke as it made him ponder once again about the "rules" of that place: Ryoji had been hidden in a secret room underneath his Dungeon, while Maki had willingly opened her door for them. As he thought about it more, he recalled that Yukino's pyramid has its outer door wide open for them.

He wondered if the reason for the difference was the relationship and the bonds between the person trapped inside and whomever was trying to rescue them. Yukino was already good friends with Riko, and on friendly terms with both Daisuke and Tatsuya when they had ventured inside her dungeon. As for Maki, she seemed to like, or at the very least, care for Ryoji. On the other hand, they had no real connection with Ryoji before they had rescued him. The more he thought about it, there seemed to truly be a pattern. The correlation made sense and it seemed to check out, however, if it was indeed true, Daisuke could not come up with a reason as to why the Shadows, if they truly intended on killing the person, made it easier to rescue them.

"Wow…"

Riko's exclamation awakened him from his thoughts, as he looked around to the top of the platform. The amazement was wholly justified, as they were now in a lush artificial garden, filled with various different trees, where the trunks and branches were made of the same dark metal as the platform, while the leaves seemed to be bright pink holograms. In front of them, past the garden, there was a large building shaped exactly like Budoga Oka High School, however, like everything else there, its walls were made of the same dark metal, and it had no windows. The clock in front of the school had its laser pointers stuck at midnight.

"I'm beginning to feel bad about how boring my Dungeon must've looked like," Yukino admitted, more to herself than to the others.

A loud otherworldly sound caught their attention making them turned around, and, as they did, they saw that the ramp that had taken them up had now vanished, phasing out faster than they could blink. As Daisuke went towards the edge to look down, he could not help but feel a bit of vertigo. It was quite the drop, calling it fatal would be stating the obvious.

"Haha…" Riko chuckled nervously, as she joined Daisuke near the ledge, "Guess there's no going back now."

"The platform will crash after we beat the Shadow, right?" Tatsuya asked Garm, with an uneasy expression.

"Yes, most likely," Garm nodded, not hiding some worry in his expression, "Shifting while up in the air is a bad idea too."

"What if we just wait until we're nearly hitting the ground before we shift?" Yukino suggested after a while of silent thought, "It's dangerous, I know, but do we really have any other choice?"

"Our velocity won't transfer into your world…" Garm said, more to himself than to the others, before he looked back up, "It will be very dangerous, but it might just work."

"Oh, we actually will follow one of my ideas?" Yukino said, surprised, "I don't even know how to feel now."

"Better make this one count, Yuuki," Riko said with another one of her nervous smiles.

"We'll get to that when we get to that," Daisuke took the lead, gesturing for the others to follow him, "Let's move."

As they made their way towards the strange looking building, they kept to the central path, not deviating to the other paths that went around the platform and amidst the small spots where the trees were "planted". Looking to the sides, one could see small flowers on the ground that followed the motif of the tree leaves and were all holograms of a bright, dazzling neon pink.

"Door's closed," Tatsuya announced, as they reached it, "Guess we'll have to blow it open."

"I don't think so," Shiro said, as he walked closer to it, while the others kept their distance. After a while, Shiro looked back: "We can't break it open."

"Why not?" Daisuke asked, as he walked over.

"This door seems to be extremely resistant. I doubt we'd be able to so much as dent it. I think there's a different solution," Shiro answered, as he used his left hand to point at something by the door, "Look."

Daisuke did as asked of him, leaning to his side to look at the panel by the door. Seemed to be a sort of locking mechanism like the one seen on science-fiction shows and films. He touched the screen and it lit up, and, as it did, a hologram of a girl appeared in front of the door beside him. The projection was unstable, constantly glitching and phasing in and out, but underneath the glitches and the pink colour, they could still clearly discern the features of the small girl with short curly hair and glasses. Her clothes were the strange suit that she wore in the Dead Phone Watch, confirming that it wasn't a projection of the real Maki Himekawa, but of her Shadow.

" _This is my world,"_ it intoned, her voice sounding distant and compressed.

"Maki!" Ryoji called out, taking a step forward.

"She can't hear you," Shiro announced, as he unceremoniously slid his hand through the head of the projection as if it was not there. The hologram glitched more, as the particles floated around Shiro's hand, but as he retracted his hand, it returned to normal, like nothing had ever happened. "It's just a message. Pre-recorded."

Ryoji winced as he saw Shiro's hand enter and exit the head of the hologram Shadow Maki, but he nodded, signalling he understood.

" _This world is mine. I choose who gets in or out,"_ the message continued to play, completely unaffected by Shiro's actions just before, " _I can't permit total noobs to get inside domain, my ship."_

"'Total noobs'…?" Tatsuya raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"It's an expression for the unskilled," Shiro informed him off-handily.

"I know what it means, asshole!" Tatsuya replied at once, fuming, "What I meant was that it doesn't sound like something a 'threatening Shadow' would say."

The strange glitches and sparks overtook the Shadow's projection once more, as it disappeared. In its place, a new projection appeared, but instead of a person, it was a bunch of letters made of the same strange pink energy. After a brief moment, the message displayed become readable:

 _"_ _WHAT IS SO FRAGILE THAT EVEN SAYING ITS NAME CAN BREAK IT?_

 _…"_

In front of the message, a holographic pink keyboard appeared, floating in the air, as if beckoning them to type on it.

"Is that a riddle?" Ryoji asked, looking at it, "Do we have to answer it to open the door?"

"Most likely," Shiro opined, holding his chin in a thoughtful fashion.

"This is really strange, to be honest, even more than normal," Riko said, as she approached the keyboard, looking at it with clear interest and bewilderment, "Normally we'd have to just fight our way in, but this time it's riddles?"

"After all we've already fought today, it's actually nice having a change of pace," Yukino said.

"Problem is we don't know what happens if we get it wrong," Daisuke grimaced, "We need to be sure of our answer."

Following Daisuke's words, they all remained silent for a moment. Daisuke had never been particularly fond of riddles, always preferring straightforward questions and answers rather than trying to decipher a meaning around a twisted sentence. "Something so fragile that its name can break it". He was certain that it wasn't even a particularly hard riddle, but the pressure on him was starting to mount and his brain was coming up empty. Especially with that deafening silence. He wished someone would talk. An idea, no matter how dumb it was, just anything to break that silence.

He opened his eyes wide then. That was it!

"Silence!" Yukino shouted all of a sudden.

"Woah!" Riko said, jumping in place, "Nobody was talking, Yuuki!"

"No, that's not what I meant," Yukino said, looking a bit embarrassed at her sudden outburst, "What I mean is that's the answer to the riddle: 'Silence'."

"Yeah," Daisuke said, nodding, trading a look with Yukino, before looking back at Riko, "If you think about it, if you say the word 'silence' then you've already broken the silence."

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense," Tatsuya confirmed, "So… We're typing that?"

As they all agreed on it, Yukino approached the keyboard and began to type. As she did, the word began to form underneath the riddle. The last character typed, the colour of the riddle shifted from light pink to white and right afterwards it disappeared. A few moments later, a rumble was heard coming from inside the metallic school and the two halves of the door began to slide apart, revealing a hallway behind it.

"It worked!" Riko cheered.

"There may still be other riddles or puzzles inside," Shiro commented, "We can't keep our guard down."

Daisuke nodded as he took the head of the group, rotating his sword in his hand as he made his way inside the door. Unlike the real Budoga-Oka what awaited them past the front door wasn't an entrance hall, but a long tubular hallway, with walls that were made of a metal of a lighter colour than the one outside. The dark follow had lines running through it.

"I can't smell regular Shadows," Garm said before they got too far inside, "The only presence I feel is that of your friend and her own Shadow."

"Nice, let's get goin' then," Tatsuya said, riling the others up.

They continued forward in a quick pace, their footsteps making a very distinct sound as they stepped on the metallic floor. At the end of the hallway, they found a new door, with a different shape than the last one, fitting more with the interior aesthetics, but, like the previous one, it also had a panel by the side of it. Once Tatsuya pressed on it, another hologram with a question and a new keyboard appeared in front of the door:

 _"_ _WHAT MUST YOU KEEP AFTER YOU GIVE IT TO SOMEONE?_

 _…"_

"What?" Riko made an annoyed sound, "Another one of these? Why are these here anyway?"

"Could be related to Himekawa's psyche," Shiro suggested, as he looked at the riddle, "She doesn't seem confrontational at all, so maybe this is her way of keeping people out."

"How so?" Daisuke questioned.

"I'm not sure," Shiro shook his head, but then moved his hand in a proposing fashion, "Might be that she feels like she herself is a riddle. And if someone can figure these out, then maybe they can help her… Or not. I'm grasping at straws here. It's just a theory."

"It might be true," Garm said, making all eyes look down at him, "All of your Stands are different, but they all have combat as a primary use. This girl can have a non-combat Stand."

"So that means we can just push her Shadow and we'll win?" Tatsuya asked, with an expectant smile.

"I don't think it will be that simple," Garm shook his head, "Even if her Stand doesn't have much of a combat use, a Shadow is still a Shadow and they are always dangerous."

"Great…" Tatsuya slumped forward, disappointed. He then looked around, again: "So, anyone know what the answer is? I'm lost."

"Well, it can't be a literal object," Shiro said, "That would be impossible. So it has to be something that transcends the physical world."

"'Transcend the physical world'? You do like your big words, don't you, Shiro-kun?" Riko said, exhausted from mental gymnastics.

"Words…" Daisuke repeated, as something in his mind clicked, "I think that's it."

"Huh? Words?" Riko questioned, "How do you keep words?"

"Not 'Words'. But 'My Word'," he said.

"What's your word?" Tatsuya asked, clearly as lost as Riko.

"No, I mean… Ugh," Daisuke couldn't help making a frustrated smile, "Giving 'my word' to a person."

"Like a promise, right?" Yukino asked, hand raised.

"Yes!" he nodded, gesturing towards her, "Thanks."

Riko and Tatsuya let out a synchronized "Oooh!" as they understood what they were trying to say. That answer made sense, but Daisuke couldn't help but wonder if there was a deeper meaning behind it. Silence and a person's word. Maybe both riddles were somehow related to Maki's inner struggles, but he couldn't see how. Whatever it was, they would find out soon enough, he thought.

As Daisuke walked forward towards the holographic keyboard, feeling his companions' eyes on him, he couldn't help but feel the pressure slowly choking him. What if he was wrong? Would the ceiling come down and squash them? Maybe the corridor would tighten up and smash them. Or, perhaps Shadows could seep in from the ground to attack them. Even if none of those grim scenarios become true, could they get a second chance to write an answer, or would that door become locked forever? He took a deep breath, calming his nerves as he began to type, rereading the words twice more before he finally clicked on enter.

Mimicking the outer door, as soon as the answer was sent, the letters turned white and disappeared, and, as they did, the door slid open, revealing another corridor on the other side, much like the one where they already were. The building's structure made no real sense, it seemed impossible, but maybe, there really was no thing as impossible space in that odd world. They didn't fully comprehend it, and maybe they never would.

As they walked on this new corridor, however, they began to see some differences compared to the last one, as the metal began slowly to grow darker. Strange pink cubes, only a few millimetres in size floated in the air, disappearing and reappearing seemingly at random, but becoming more and more dense the deeper they got into the tunnel. Finally, they arrived at a new door, similar to the previous ones, but matching the darker colour of the walls, looking older and burnt. It looked like a fire had broken out in that corridor sometime recently. The panel that they should have interacted with was broken with sparks shooting off it, but a message was already displaying in front of the door, with the letters periodically glitching, much more than previous riddles, but still very much readable:

 _"_ _WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?_

 _…"_

"That… doesn't seem like a riddle," Riko said after they all stared at the message for a while.

"No, that's definitely something personal," Shiro agreed, crossing his arms with a displeased expression.

"Maybe she's talking about Ryo?" Tatsuya opined, poking one of the floating cubes with his knife, watching the blade go through it with no resistance.

"No, it can't be me, we haven't even talked that much," Ryoji shook his head energetically. "It's got to be someone else."

"It can't be something that recent. I'd assume it has to do with why she's so introverted and uncooperative," Daisuke said, not avoiding feeling some guilt for the way he was speaking so coldly about a girl that had apparently been struggling with some sort of issue, "Did she mention her parents when she talked to you, Ryoji?"

"She did mention her mother worrying about her," Ryoji said after consideration, "Not sure if she did mention her dad, but I don't think it would be him either."

"Could be a grandparent," Shiro suggested, "Perhaps the reason she has entered her depression is the death of a beloved family member that she hasn't fully accepted."

"That's so sad…" Yukino said in a disheartened voice, taking her closed left hand to her chest. "But it would explain why she keeps closing herself of from people."

"So… How do we open the door?" Asked Tatsuya as he gestured with his head towards the message.

"I may have an idea," Shiro said, approaching the keyboard, as he began to type.

"Hey! What are you doing!?" Tatsuya shouted, pulling on his arm.

"Getting us through the door," he replied shaking his arm free. His face had no visible expression, but something in his tone was different. It was if he was hiding something painful: "I know how to answer it. I have... I have had the same type of questions before. I have been in her shoes."

The anger in Tatsuya's face slowly started to vanish, being replaced by regret and, seemingly pity, as he realised the meaning behind Shiro's tone of voice and words. Daisuke felt a deep sadness coming from Shiro, that seemed to be completely genuine. Whatever he had experienced, it had left a deep emotional scar that even if mostly healed, was still very much present in the kendo captain's psyche.

"Shiro-kun..." Riko called out after an awkward silence, where none dared speak, "I'm- We're sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Shiro smiled at her, the depression in his tone seemingly seeping away, "The more I learn of Himekawa, the more I understand her. And I know that for this, the answer..." he turned back to type, "is that 'they never left'."

As Shiro entered his answer, the letters that formed the question started to shake and glitch wildly, as the mess of floating pixels turned a dark shade of red, before they shutdown completely and with them, the lights all around them. A moment of silence followed, as they were left wondering if Shiro had chosen the wrong answer, before finally, a loud sound was heard from inside the door and it started to open. With sudden jolts instead of the fluidness of the previous doors, it finally opened, revealing a dark room on the other side, as the lights on the corridor flickered back on, a few at a time.

"What happened?" Ryoji asked, after they all spent a moment in silent contemplation.

"I thought it was rejecting the answer at first," Shiro admitted, as he turned to look back at the others, "But the door did open, so perhaps it was the correct answer?"

With answers still very much in the air, they steeled themselves, stepping closer to the now open door. The room on the other side was covered in pitch blackness, the only lights they could see were from the floating cubes that drifted apart from each other in seemingly random patterns.

"Prince."

Shiro called on his Stand and it appeared beside him. It didn't hold a sword, instead, it moved both of its hands forward, producing an orb of bright light that it sent forward into the darkness. It began to shine brighter and brighter as it slowly rose from the ground, illuminating the chamber that was previously cast in darkness, revealing a dark floor filled with cables on the ground and, in the middle of it, a girl lying down.

As they rushed to meet her, Ryoji was the first one there, kneeling next to the body of the unconscious Maki Himekawa. The relatively short girl was easily the shortest among the group. Her wavy light-brown hair fell down to her shoulders. The large glasses with wide black frames she had on her perky nose, complimented her round face. She wore the summer uniform with calf-length white socks, the shirt, lacking a tie, tucked into the skirt and, over it, a loose, thin pink cardigan. As Ryoji shook her, as gently as he could, she began to slowly open up her large, doe-brown eyes. She blinked a few times, dispersing the daze she was feeling:

"Ryoji-kun?" She asked, her voice was hoarse from her surely dry throat, but there was still a hint of a gentle, high-pitched voice. As she noticed the presence of the strangers holding weapons, she emitted a loud squeak: "Wh-Who are these people? Where am I?"

"Please, don't be scared!" Ryoji said, making an attempt at a reassuring smile, but his tone almost sounded more alarmed than hers. "These are my friends. Someone kidnapped you and brought you here. We came in here to rescue you. It's gonna be alright."

"Don't listen to him!"

It was only a single voice, but it seemed to come from all around them. The light that Shiro's Stand had conjured disappeared then, as the room was now filled with the glow emanating from dozens of large monitors spread all around them. The screen that was right in front of them was much bigger than all the others, extending from the ceiling to the ground, however, all the screen displayed the same exact image: Maki's Shadow sitting in what seemed to be a control room, eyes ablaze in a golden colour.

"You are alone. You don't need anybody else," The Shadow talked again, and its distorted voice flooded them from all sides, loud enough to leave a buzzing on their ears, "Everyone you like will leave you."

"No, that…" Himekawa said in a weak voice, on her feet, but still being helped up by Ryoji.

"Don't listen to her," Ryoji pleaded, holding her arm tighter, "You know that's not true!"

"What a joke… Everyone you care for leaves." the Shadow snickered. "What happened the last time someone cared for you? What happened when someone said they would never leave? Do you remember it? Do you remember how you felt? Grandma promised she would always be with you, didn't she? Where is she now, Maki? Where is she!?"

Maki's already terrified expression took an even worse turn, as she began to cry, shaking off Ryoji's hand to hold onto her own arms, tears rolling down her face as she tried to make herself small.

"Maki!" Ryoji called, desperately.

"She left me…" she cried, "She… She died…"

"People will always leave you. You don't need friends anymore," the Shadow continued, "If you are alone, you'll never feel pain again! Forget your pain! Forget her! Forget everyone! Erase everyone from your mind!"

"No!" Maki screamed, her voice getting trapped in her throat, but she still managed to force herself to talk again. Her eyes were red, but she made an effort to look up at the biggest screen, "I can't forget about grandma… I can't forget her. I… I won't do it. I made a promise to her. I promised her that I would be strong… I don't need you! You're not me!"

It happened then. The Shadow's transformation was triggered by Maki's refusal. The screens that once displayed her doppelgänger's face were overrun by fire of deep blue, consuming her human form, as the sound of cackling laughter, roaring flames and electrical sparks filled the room. As the team closed ranks around the fragile Maki, her Shadow concluded its transformation into what seemed to be a cyborg with white metallic skin, wearing a suit similar to the one she had before, but with pieces of futuristic gold armour on the chest, shoulders, forearms and legs. Her hair had grown long and pale pink, and a golden visor covered the top of her face. Holographic screens and panels had appeared around her, as well as a stream of text and graphs that scrolled too fast for them to be able to read.

"I am a Shadow. The true self."

It then began to move its fingers with amazing dexterity across the panels that floated around it, pressing on them as if it was typing on a keyboard, an action that was mirrored in every single screen that filled the room. Was the Shadow hiding somewhere in the room? Maybe it was actually in front of them, hiding in one of the screens, or somehow every screen was part of itself.

In front of the largest screen, a few dozen humanoid creatures appeared. Looking closely at them, they had the same figure as the transformed Shadow; however, their features were indistinguishable as they were of a single colour, a dark, semi-transparent pink, like the one in the panels that floated around the Shadow on the screen. Each of the smaller Shadows, or copies of the Shadow, held what seemed to be a thin, curved sword in their left hands.

"Lazarus!"

Daisuke's Stand summoned a large broadsword from glass, describing a wide, devastating arc with it, cutting past the copies with vicious strength, splitting them in half.

As Lazarus retreated a few paces, to the side of its master, new Shadows had already begun appearing to replace the ones he had cut down. More than that, however, Shadow Maki had started to laugh, as new panels appeared all around her: Some of them contained fast scrolling text but others had what seemed to be pictures of Daisuke and his Stand, as well as footage from the previous attack.

"Lazarus. Death. Daisuke Ichijou," the Shadow spoke, as it turned its head to look at the different panels, its eyes hidden by the visor, "Close-Range Combat Stand. Glass manipulation. Adapting…"

The Shadow's copies glowed red for less than a second, and soon after they changed their stance, getting their blades pointing forward horizontally, resuming their threatening walk forward.

Daisuke called upon Lazarus again, this time splitting the broadsword in two separate swords, rushing forward, managing to cut apart quickly two of the copies, while the others jumped away, dodging his follow-up strikes as they glowed red once again. Before he had time to readapt to their positioning or retreat his Stand, the copies attacked Lazarus, blindsiding him, cutting past his coat, and sending out sparks as the blades bit into his spectral armour.

Lazarus let out a pained roar, as Daisuke screamed, bending over forward, stumbling and wrapping his arm around his torso, as he felt a throbbing on his side, where the blades had hit Lazarus. He swung wildly with his own sword, as Lazarus copied his movement, slashing the copies that had managed to hit him cleanly in half. The others, however, glowed again, and prepared to attack once more, jumping towards him with swords raised.

"Arabella!"

Yukino rushed to Daisuke's side, letting her axe fall to put her hands around him, while her Stand had gotten itself in front of Lazarus, sending out a fiery explosion of deep blue that destroyed the lunging Shadow Copies.

"Arabella. Empress. Yukino Yamaguchi. Mid-range Combat Stand. Pyromancy. Adapting…"

The Shadows glowed red again, changing their stance; however, they did not attack instead moving as to circle around the Stand from both sides. They would not attack Arabella head on, as it would easily burn them to ashes, instead they would try to work around its lack of speed by attacking it from the sides, as they had exploited Lazarus lack of crowd control, by swarming it.

"Stop 'em, Sailor!"

"Santi!"

Riko and Tatsuya had taken to different sides of the room, using their Stands to stop the copies. Starsailor using its enhanced gravity push to throw the attackers backwords and onto the screens, mimicking what Santigold's powerful gusts did, blasting the copies around the room, and, more importantly, around Lazarus and Arabella, that now returned to their respective masters.

New ones soon replaced the copies that were destroyed by Santigold and Starsailor, as the Shadow on the screen began to make adjustments once more. Riko and Tatsuya returned to the centre of the room, getting front of Daisuke and Yukino. Daisuke took his hand from his side, seeing the blood on his fingers. He could not judge the full extent of his injury yet, but while it most likely had not hit any major organ or even bone, it was a quite nasty, long and deep cut, that was bleeding profusely.

"Let me heal you," Yukino asked, as she called Arabella to her side once more.

"Not now…" Daisuke got back on his feet, immediately feeling a strong jolt of pain, making him clinch his teeth, and hold onto Yukino harder to steady himself, "You'll tire out."

"You'll bleed out if I don't help you!" Yukino moved her hand to touch his injured side.

Daisuke stopped her, grabbing her arm, looking her in the eyes: "I don't want you to die because of me." He slumped forward, feeling the pain on his side again.

She did not listen to him. Arabella's hand extended from Yukino's, and it reached over to touch Daisuke's side. He bit his lip as he felt the Stand's warm touch, initially aggravating the pain he felt, as he pressed his head against her shoulder. He could hear the sounds of fighting around him, and his teammates trying to hold off the attacking Shadows. The pain started to slowly fade, being replaced by a strange sensation, as if his skin was being sown together to close the wound.

He opened his eyes again as Arabella's touch subsided, and he could see Yukino giving him a tired smile, just before she fell backwards. He managed to react quickly, stopping her from touching the ground.

"Sorry, guess I overdid it, huh?" She said in a low voice, barely keeping her eyes open.

He kept hold of her, dropping his sword and picking her up in his arms in a bridal carry, looking around to Tatsuya and Riko who had taken steps back, towards them, being pushed back by the Shadow's forces that had started to circle around the group. Shiro and Ryoji stood on the other side of him, with their weapons at the ready.

"Going one at the time won't work." Shiro said, as he held his sword in front of him, "It will adapt to all of our Stands eventually. We need to attack the source directly."

"What's the source?" Tatsuya asked, as he looked back quickly.

"The Shadow's smell is too hard to track!" Garm admitted, as he looked down, "It's coming from all around us!"

"Smash the screens!" Daisuke shouted, Yukino still in his arms. "She's inside the network!"

The copies started to attack again, going in two waves, the first to try and bait an attack, a second one to kill. The worst part was, they could not avoid but fall into the trap, even if it was meant as a bait, if they did not react, they would kill them all the same.

"Close your eyes!" Shiro said, as he moved his left hand to his face, "Prince!"

Shiro's Stand appeared beside him, mimicking his pose and, as his teammates closed their eyes, released a powerful flash of light that overtook the entire room, making it impossible for anyone to see, completely blinding the Shadow and it's minions.

"It will adapt to Prince, now, but we have an opening!" Shiro said, sword raised, as his companions recovered, "Attack the screens!"

Shiro had already pointed his sword at the screens in front of him, delivering quick cuts with his sword that his Stand followed, slicing his targets in quick flashes. The Shadow let out a cry of anguish as the screens remains fell to the ground with a loud impact. Riko took the hint, and quickly attacked as well, sending wind blades that hit the screens. Daisuke's arms were occupied, but Lazarus were not, allowing him to throw a spear against the biggest monitor, that shattered the monitor.

"Stop!" The Shadow's voice cried, "You cannot!"

The stunned copies shone bright red once more, indicating they had adapted to Prince's stunning flash. Many screens remained, more than they could destroy at their current pace.

"Dammit, we're screwed…" Tatsuya cursed, backing up farther.

"I know what to do!" Ryoji shouted suddenly, getting the others by surprise, "Tatsuya-senpai! Our special attack!"

"Your what!?" Riko asked shrilly, looking back, "Are you two mental!?"

"Oh yeah! Let's go for it, Ryo! Come on, Starsailor!"

Tatsuya's Stand moved quickly, sending a pulling gravity sphere upwards, as Ryoji's own Stand appeared, summoning its brush, shooting a large amount of it's red thinner towards the gravity sphere, where it began to spin faster and faster inside it. The Shadow copies had begun running at them.

"Everyone down!" Tatsuya said, before Ryoji joined him, as they both intoned in unison: "Gravity Eraser!"

The gravity sphere shifted its polarity, shooting off the stored thinner all around it, like speeding bullets that punctured past Shadow copies and screens, with no resistance. Not only was the speed of the projectiles devastating, but the thinners acid-like properties made it that whatever the bullets touched would begin to corrode instantly.

"It worked!" Ryoji cheered, raising his spear in celebration.

As Tatsuya and Ryoji high-fived and did a strange celebration, the last of the screens corroded away. The few remaining copies that had adapted to the attack before the last screen fell had also broken down into pixels and disappeared into nothingness. In their place, the Shadow that had previously remained hidden appeared, the armour it wore fizzling out of existence, as it returned to its previous form, stumbling onto its knees.

Maki had stayed in complete silence since the start of the fight. Fear, anxiety and the Shadow's own presence had crippled her, leaving her powerless on the ground, where she remained, sitting on the ground, with her arms around her legs.

"Hey…" Ryoji kneeled next to her, extending his hand towards her, "Come on. Get up."

"I… I'm afraid," she mumbled, not moving a muscle, "I can't… What if it's true? What if everyone that I care for really does leave me?"

"All of us had to face the things we hate about ourselves," Daisuke said, making Maki look at him, searching for the owner of the unfamiliar voice, "The Shadow is the you that you hide away. You need to accept it before you can move forward."

"He's right," Shiro said, showing her one of his unique smiles, before assuming a sadder expression, "I understand what you're going through. I've had similarly dark thoughts myself, that everyone would leave me, and that there really was no point to it. But, I am here now, because I confronted those fears. You can do the same."

Maki looked to Shiro with her eyes welling up with tears that she struggled to fight back. She looked then at her Shadow again, still kneeling next to the ruined screens, immobile. Maki's eyes met Ryoji's then, as he smiled at her, his hand still awaiting hers. Finally, she placed her hand on Ryoji's, letting him help her onto her feet.

Maki swallowed her fears, walking past the others and nearing her defeated Shadow, who turned its head towards her, blinking slowly. Maki looked back again, but once she saw the others nod and encourage her, she made a soft smile, and looked forward again, imitating Ryoji by extending her arm towards the Shadow:

"I'm so, so sorry… I never wanted to hurt you…" Upon the Shadow's lack of a response, she shook her head, tears beginning to run down her face, "It's true… Ever since… Ever since gran died I can't stop thinking about it… About how she promised she would be with me forever, but then…

Ryoji started to walk towards her, but Shiro grabbed his shoulder, shaking his head, telling him to stay put.

"I know it's silly of me to think like this… She kept telling me to smile…" her words were becoming less comprehensible from the soft sobbing, "I didn't… I shut myself off from everyone. But… Now I know what to do. I understand it. I will smile again."

Maki looked back again, despite the tears: she smiled. A broad, innocent looking smile that meant the world. When she looked back to the shadow, she did a soft bow:

"Thank you for showing this to me. For making me understand my suffering. I am forever in your debt, other me."

The Shadow smiled an exact replica of Maki's own innocent smile. It raised both of its hands to touch Maki's and, as soon as it did, it became enveloped in the blue glow of transformation, changing into her true form: A woman with light-grey skin and light-pink short hair, held with a white hairband. It wore white body armour, with golden accents and pink lights coming from the gaps in the armour. From her back, six semi-transparent pink mechanical-looking wings had sprung out.

"I am thou. Thou art I. I am Delilah, the mask of Justice. I am your sword and shield."

The Stand let go of Maki's hands, closing its bright pink eyes and turning into light particles that went into the girl. She placed her hand on her chest, turning around to look at the others.

"I… did it?"

"You did," Riko nodded, with hands on her hips and a proud smile, "Congrats, Maki-chan!"

"Oh… Thank you," she blushed, looking away embarrassed. She looked back at all of them, and bowed: "I'm sorry for being a burden!"

"You're not a burden, Maki," Ryoji said at once, "You're one of us."

Daisuke couldn't help but smile, feeling relieved at another success, especially at one that had come after such a tough time. He felt a tug on his shirt, looking to Yukino, who he still held in his arms. The girl looked to have regained some of her energy:

"Not that I mind, but…" she said in what was practically a whisper to him, "You can put me down now. I can walk."

As the two of them traded a look, Daisuke suddenly realised how strange it was for him to be holding her in a bridal carry. From Yukino's blushing, it seemed that she had also come to the same thought. He helped her down, his tired arms immediately feeling much better from not having to carry the extra weight. As the two traded looks again, Yukino chuckled nervously, as he also made a strange smile, looking away.

It was then that they felt a strong rumble underneath their feet, like an earthquake; however, it could not be that, they were floating many stories above the ground. There was only a single explanation for it: The power for the platform had gone out and it would now fall. Immediately after the first rumble, they felt a second one and heard a loud sound of some machine turning off. And after that, they felt a strong force pulling them down, as the platform began its rapid, deadly descent into the devilish town bellow.

"Group up!" Garm shouted his voice barely audible above the rattling sounds of the building that had begun to crumble around them.

Daisuke held onto Yukino's hand as they scrambled to Garm, as the others did, barely being able to remain standing with the powerful forces they were being subjected to. He tipped just as he reached Garm, Riko falling against him as she also stumbled forward. In the middle of the mess were they all tried to stay huddled together, resisting the forces that pulled them apart, Yukino managed to pull out her phone, stretching her arm to the middle of the group.

"Here we go!"

She pressed the app and immediately, the sounds of the platforming falling and school crumbling stopped, being substituted by a loud buzzing noise, as their eyes were filled with the strong light and their bodies were pulled away, ripped from one world to be thrown into the next. When he regained feeling in his body again, Daisuke felt himself falling again and next, pain as his back hit against a hard floor, and someone landed on top of him, elbows against his ribs.

He wondered briefly if he was dead, but as he opened his eyes and felt his body aching from the fall, he could see a ceiling above him, a ceiling he knew all too well. He tried to sit up, noticing that Yukino had fallen over him, with her arm over his chest, and Garm was on top of his feet. Looking to his side, he could also see Riko, Tatsuya, Maki, Ryoji and Shiro, all in similarly compromising positions after a harsh fall.

"Ow… Damn it…" Tatsuya said rubbing his head as he sat up, noticing Riko had fallen halfway over him and over Yukino. "Where the hell are we?"

"School," Shiro answered, being the first one to get on his feet, even if, by his body language, he was as stunned as the others, "This is Budoga-Oka. We're back."


	25. Ch25: Where Have You Been?

**Where Have You Been?**

Daisuke tugged at his shirt in a fruitless effort to cool himself. The temperatures in Morioh had been slowly rising ever since the start of June, however, as of the last few days, they had dramatically increased. A heat wave that was so brutal it made the trips between home and school every day akin to a perilous journey across a scorching desert.

That trip to the LuckyLand had been the first time Daisuke and his friends had met up outside of school since they had rescued Maki. With the heat wave sapping their energy and will to walk outside more than it was absolutely necessary, and the prospect of Finals in the horizon, they had instead adopted a new routine of studying either together at the library, or by themselves at home. Daisuke didn't even want to imagine how bad the electricity bill would look like with his and Garm's gratuitous use of the fan in his room.

When Ryoji had sent the group a message about Maki being out of the hospital and wanting to meet, it triggered a mixture of emotions on Daisuke: he was both happy for the girl's well-being and eager to talk to her, but also absolutely dreading the idea of leaving the comfort of his room. Thankfully, a cool breeze passed by Luckyland's open food court, which, associated with the parasol's shade, diminished the effects of the punishing heat.

Daisuke lowered his bright blue Lucky Burger cup, taking another look around the table. Tatsuya sat by his side, one hand resting against his face, the other swiping away at his phone. In front of the two boys, Riko distractedly drank from her own cup, as she also seemed to be scouting the food court.

"Hey, sorry I'm late."

Yukino approached the table coming from the escalator at the end of the food court. Over her normal street clothes, she wore a cream and light-blue apron with the LuckyLand logo stitched on the front. She took it off, as she approached the bench, setting it down between herself and Riko, before undoing her ponytail, letting her dark hair fall neatly down, placing the hairband on her wrist.

"Workin' hard?" Daisuke asked, curious, as he followed her movements.

"Have to," she said with a tired look, leaning forward on the table, supporting her head on her palm, "One of our employees got sick, and another, a girl from school, quit her job. So… I've had to fill in some shifts."

"That sucks…" Riko said.

"Nah, it ain't so bad," Yukino smiled, "Oh yeah! Where are the others? Weren't we meeting because of Maki-chan?"

"Ryo says they're on their way," Tatsuya informed them, lifting up his phone to show a text as proof, "I dunno about pretty boy, though."

"Shiro will be late. Told me that we could start without him," Daisuke said, recalling the kendo captain's words, "He says he'll come by soon as he can."

"Figures…" Tatsuya shook his head, "It irks me so bad that he's 'one of us'."

"You know that we have no choice," Riko began tapping on her cup, "I also don't trust him that much, but we wouldn't have been able to save Maki-chan without him."

"I know…" Tatsuya sighed, "Thing is: His Stand's pretty strong and he's smart, so I get that he's useful. But, I can't be the only one that thinks that his sudden appearance was odd."

"You're not," Daisuke assured him, "I'd also like to question him. Garm says he can't be the killer since their presences don't match, but I always feel like he is hiding something from us."

"You haven't talked to me him since that day, Daicchi?" Yukino asked.

"No," he shook his head, "He was sick for a few days, so he didn't come to practice."

"Sick, yeah…" Tatsuya made the 'air quotes' gesture. His expression became much friendlier as he looked away from the table, "Hey, there they are."

Like Yukino had before them, Ryoji and Maki approached the table, coming from the escalator. Ryoji walked in front of the girl, a large smile on his face, as he did a quick wave to Tatsuya, responding to his greeting. Maki, behind him, looked mostly at the ground, being visibly shy. She wore a cute periwinkle dress, with a light pink sash and a lacy white collar, white sheer tights, and shiny black shoes. As she sat next to Riko and in front of Ryoji, she touched her glasses nervously, pushing them further up her face:

"H-Hi."

"Oooh, you don't need to be shy, Maki-chan," Riko said, her tone made it sound like she was speaking to a small child and not to someone only a year her junior, "We're all friends, here."

Maki hesitated for a bit, looking up to Riko only for a brief moment, looking down at the table again. Taking a deep breath, she finally lifted her head up again: "Sorry, senpai. I'm still getting used to this. I was never really social..."

"It's ok, you'll get better at it." Riko made a large, friendly smile that in turn, made Maki do a smaller, much more self-aware smile.

"Oh, I was forgetting myself," the younger girl said, lowering her head towards the rest, "Thank you for rescuing me."

"Hey, no need for thanks," Tatsuya rubbed his nose in a proud manner, "It's our job."

"Yes, well, that is what Ryoji-kun told me," She took a quick glance at the artist in front of her, "He explained to me that you have been saving people that were taken away like I was. That you help them accept their ahm… Shadows?"

"Yeah, Shadows." Daisuke confirmed, "They are the killer's 'murder weapon'. You need to accept your faults to beat them."

"I told Maki about the Otherworld," Ryoji informed them, "But since this one was my first mission, I don't know stuff as well as you, senpai."

"Ryoji-kun also told me about all of you," Maki said, looking more relaxed and more talkative, "He told me you were all good friends of his and good people. He also told me about how I could recognize you."

"Recognize us, eh?" Tatsuya smirked, amused, "Who am I then?"

"You're... Tatsuya-senpai, right?" Maki smiled as Tatsuya nodded, "Ryoji told me Tatsuya-senpai had blond hair and an earring, and talked a lot. He also said that even if he made some off-jokes, he was a good friend."

"Off-jokes...?" Tatsuya scratched behind his head, "Thanks for that Ryo."

"Could be worse," Yukino leaned her head to the side, "Could've said you were a pervert."

"You _are_ the worst, let's be fair" Riko said, nodding along, with fake seriousness.

"You are… Yukino-senpai and Riko-senpai, right?" Maki asked. She looked pleased with herself as they confirmed her guess: "Ryoji-kun said Yukino-senpai joked and laughed a lot, and Riko-senpai loved to tease Tatsuya-senpai."

Riko became very red, very fast, looking quickly at Maki as if she was about to tell her to shut up, when Yukino, sensing her friend in danger, tapped on her shoulder, and quickly swerved the subject away from her:

"What about Daisuke?"

"Oh." Maki looked at Daisuke quickly, looking down at the table afterwards, as if she had become introverted again, "He told me he was the leader. And was very brave, and strong. He's nice, even if he looks kinda scary."

Tatsuya exploded into laughter, surely from a mixture of Maki's description and from Daisuke's very own look of complete befuddlement. Riko did her best to not laugh as well, as people on other tables started to give them weird looks. Ryoji looked white as a ghost, while Yukino just had a silly looking smile, that was hard to read.

"I don't..." He said finally, trying to find words, "I don't look scary. Do I?"

"A tall, lanky dude who only wears black?" Tatsuya teased, "Yeah, sure mate."

"And you have that intense stare too," Yukino added, "Also, when you fight, you always get that psychotic smile."

"Psychotic?" Daisuke made a smile so forced it could cut diamonds.

"Oh! Don't worry about it." She moved her hands as if to wipe away any doubt of ill will, "I think you look really cool when you do it."

Daisuke sighed, but noticed by the corner of his eye that Maki was laughing along. Seeing the bunch of friendly fools they were first hand, was making her slowly, but surely, lose her shyness, making her much more comfortable in the group. He couldn't help but smile, as he noticed it.

"Oh yeah, Maki-chan," Yukino called, after a brief time, getting back on track, "Did the police interrogate you? What did you tell them?"

"Hum… They asked a lot of stuff," Maki touched her small chin, thinking, "But my memory of that day was kinda hazy... They asked me about if I remembered where and when I was kidnapped. And if I remembered anything about who did it."

"And… Do you remember?" Daisuke questioned.

She shook her head. Daisuke lowered his own head. Even if he wasn't truly expecting a breakthrough, it still felt disappointing and frustrating to lack any clue after three rescues. The killer, however he did it, was an expert at removing traces of his presence. Still, he had hoped that, since Maki had been abducted before she even got a preliminary Watch that something new had come up. But it seemed that, once again, the 'Fog Killer' had disappeared into the blasted mist he so loved.

"Was the detective who questioned you a woman called Asuka Kuronuma?" Daisuke insisted.

"I think so," she closed one eye, as if making an effort to remember, "I don't remember her name, but I think it might be it. It was a young woman with short hair. She sounded nice, but had gave me scary looks sometimes."

 _Sounds like her_ , Daisuke thought.

"Did she talk about Daisuke-kun?" Yukino asked.

Maki shook her head. From her lack of surprise or confusion at the question, Ryoji must have had informed her about Daisuke's own interrogation.

"What about Kyohei Akaashi?" Daisuke questioned.

Maki's response was the same as before. He was as close to knowing who Akaashi was, as when Asuka had, almost off-handedly, asked him about it at the end of their interview. He was itching to ask Shiro about it, but he could almost swear the kendo captain was avoiding him.

"So…" Tatsuya took his hands from behind his head, after a brief moment of silence, "Are you gonna help us? Your Stand could really come in handy for our missions."

Even if Maki had certainly been anticipating the question, actually having to answer it had made her uncomfortable again. She seemed to shrink once more, as she avoided to meet Tatsuya's or anybody else's gaze, shifting side to side on her seat.

"Garm, our dog, says your Stand isn't made for fighting," Yukino informed her, "You wouldn't need to fight yourself. Just support us."

"I know..." Maki said, eyes still fixated on the table, "I felt it for the brief moment Delilah spoke to me, when we forged our bond. I know that you'll actually be the ones that can get hurt but... I'm still scared."

Daisuke looked up at the parasol. It wasn't surprising nor unreasonable. The Shadow World was dangerous, vicious and cruel. He felt a pinch of pain in his side where Shadow Maki had injured him, possibly fatally were it not for Yukino's quick intervention. It was already a hard task for someone like him, with bloodlust and a promise to keep, for someone like Maki, who always shied away from conflict and confronting life's hardships, it was gargantuan. A few more moments of silence passed, as Maki looked at her hands.

"I'll... I'll help."

She raised her head, looking first at Ryoji and then to Daisuke. Nobody dared to speak a word as they saw her expression.

"I was always scared and running to my nan when something bad happened," she said, the words carried both fervour and sadness, "After she..."

"It's ok, Maki-chan..." Riko said, touching her arm.

"After she passed away... I could never feel happy again. I couldn't trust anybody. The person who was always there for me was no longer there..." Her eyes shone, but no tears fell, "Being helpless... I don't want anybody else to feel like I did. I want to help. Anyway I can."

Her voice had trembled a bit: she was scared, how could she not be? But more than that, she was determined. Praise and cheers for her decision came from around the table. As expected, Ryoji in particular was happy for her decision. Remembering a request made by Garm, Daisuke put a pair of large glasses with a light pink frame on top of the table.

"Garm gave me these, in case you joined," Daisuke said, sliding the glasses towards her.

Maki looked at the glasses with curiosity, switching her common pair for the special "Garmcrafted" one. They were much rounder and larger than Daisuke's or Tatsuya's, with thicker frames than Yukino's or Riko's. They seemed to be made to mimic her normal day-to-day pair of glasses. Garm was nothing if not keen on detail. How he managed to make them with his tiny paws and lack of thumbs, however, he would never understand.

"Hum… I can't see very well," she admitted, blinking a few times whilst moving her head around, before switching back to her old glasses, "Do I have to stack both pairs?"

"Garm says that they would work to fix your eyesight as well," he shrugged, "But I suppose they only work on the other side."

"Oh." Maki nodded, looking at her new pair of glasses with a smile, "Well, please tell Garm-chan I really like them, Senpai."

"All righty then…" Tatsuya said adjusting himself on his seat, a big smile creeping into his face, as he changed the subject, "Now that the serious stuff is out of the way, let's get to the good stuff: What are we gonna do for the holidays?"

"The holidays?" Riko repeated with a raised brow, "We still have finals to study for."

"I know, I know!" Tatsuya moved his hands in the air in a rather amusing fashion, "I'm actually trying to study this time, General No-Fun!"

"I'm not General No-Fun!" Riko blasted back, cranky.

"You're General Nofunaga," Yukino quickly jumped in.

"Hey! Just hear me out," Tatsuya pleaded, ignoring the pun entirely, "What I mean is: All of this studying, the homework, the Shadows and that whole mess… It's just tiring me out like nobody's business. So... I just out to relax a bit, yeah? For all of us, as a team, as friends, to go do something together."

"What are you even talking about?" Daisuke asked, scratching his head, "We're together nearly every day."

"Yeah, but I want to do something fun, something we can all remember," Tatsuya continued on, it was if he had been preparing for this for a while, "These are supposed to be the best years of our lives, right? Are we really gonna spend our summer coming to bloody LuckyLand to eat some mediocre burgers?"

"Hey!" Yukino cast him a nasty look, "We have the best burgers in town."

"I can see what Tatsuya-senpai is saying," Ryoji said, talking for the first time in a while, "It's the first real break we've had since the start of the year. Shouldn't we try to have fun, for once?"

"Right?" Tatsuya smirked, "Here's my proposal…"

"Oh boy." Riko held her head with both hands pre-emptively.

"We all get on a train to Nanjo and we go to the beach!"

A moment of awkward silence was held around the table once again.

"The beach…?" Daisuke raised his eyebrow.

"Yes! Think about it, man!" Tatsuya's eyes sparkled in wonderment, "Blue seas! Blue skies! Refreshing watermelons, beach volleyball! No parents, no rules, only us having a blast! Just a day for us to enjoy under the hot summer sun!"

"Yeah, yeah... That's not the thing you care about, is it?" Riko said grumpily, "You won't be looking at the skies or the seas. You just want an excuse to put us in swimsuits."

"What!? No!" If Tatsuya had been cursed to have his nose grow for his lies, it'd reach all the way to S-City and back, "Why must you hurt me with your mean words, Riko?"

"Cuz I still have enough control to not hurt you with my feet." She crossed her arms in a power stance, "You no-good, perv."

"Come on, I mean it!" Tatsuya insisted, looking to the other two boys, "Ryo?"

"Well… I'd enjoy it," Ryoji admitted, even if he avoided meeting Riko's smouldering gaze, "I'd love to get a chance to paint one of the famous Nanjo sunsets. Besides, I think it would be fun to just hang out with all of you."

"All right!" Tatsuya smacked Ryoji too hard on his back, almost knocking him face first into the table, "Daisuke?"

He traded an uncertain look with his blond friend, afterwards looking at the embarrassed out of her life Maki, that was redder than a tomato, Riko who still kept her arms deadly locked, and her nose upwards, and Yukino who looked at him expectantly, even if not all too pleased at Tatsuya's barely hidden play. For a reason unknown to his conscious side, he began to imagine the dark-haired girl in a swimsuit, and couldn't help from hiding the lower half of his reddening face with his hand as he looked away, before mumbling:

"Ah... Yeah, I guess it could be fun."

"See?" Tatsuya smiled triumphantly, "It's a cool idea!"

"Ugh, fine!" Riko threw her hands up. As Tatsuya began to cheer, she raised her hand again, "But you do know that train tickets and watermelon and all that stuff is expensive, right?"

"Of course I do," Tatsuya grinned like his ultimate plan was finally coming together, "We just need to get ourselves part-time jobs and save up the money. Ryoji can sell some of his drawings, you can work at your parent's store, I've already talked about a job at the hospital as a janitor, maybe one of you can work as a tutor or something… Oh! Yukino, didn't you say LuckyLand is hiring?"

"Well yeah, but—"

"Nice, so you and Daisuke or Maki, I dunno, can work there," Tatsuya clapped, bot letting her even finish her sentence.

"Well I see you are in high spirits."

The voice of Shiro Kuronuma arrived just before its owner, as the kendo captain approached the table, coming from the other side of the food court. He carried his school bag on his shoulder, and a tired look on his face, like he had not slept well for the last couple of days. As he sat at the table, next to Daisuke, he looked first and foremost at Maki, smiling at her:

"Are you feeling well, Himekawa-san?" As Maki nodded shyly in response, he closed his eyes and made an even larger smile, "I'm very glad."

"What took you so long?" Tatsuya asked. His good mood seemingly shot down.

"The same thing that has made me so busy for the last few days," he opened his school bag, drawing from it a dark-blue binder, placing it on the table, moving it towards Daisuke, "Here."

Daisuke traded a look with Shiro before following his gaze towards the binder in front of him. Feeling the looks of burning curiosity from his friends, he opened the binder, finding quite a few pages of what were surely classified police documents. Or, at least, copies of those same documents.

"These are your sister's?" Daisuke asked.

"Indeed," Shiro nodded, "She likes keeping very in-depth documents and reports that she herself produces. There are, of course, things missing, but this was the best I could do, with what time and resources I had."

"That's kinda badass," Riko admitted, even if she seemed conflicted, "But… Ahm… Shiro-kun, isn't that, you know, illegal?"

"Indeed," he nodded, "But if we would have a chance at capturing the suspect, we need every advantage we can get, don't you think?"

Daisuke's mind was almost filtering the conversation out, as his eyes glazed across the different documents, while Tatsuya was leaning over next to him to also try to read them. The first few pages described the murder of Yumeno-senpai, with photos of the crime scene, its location on a town map, and what seemed to be excerpts of the autopsy report. The phrase "cause of death is uncertain" looked to have been signalled with a marker, but it was hard to see in the copy.

The next few pages described the kidnappings, Yukino's was first, with her school picture on the top corner and some personal data on her, later describing what was known of her kidnapping, as well as what seemed to be the official police interrogation. The same style of document was present as well for Ryoji, but Maki's was noticeably incomplete, probably since it was the most recent one, the investigation was still in progress.

After the incomplete report, he found what seemed to be reports on suspects, or, at the very least, persons of interest. He wasn't surprised, but still uneasy about finding his name and his photo in there. He searched for Asuka's notes on him, finding them in her clean and slick handwriting after a transcript of his interrogation. Her first few notes seemed to be on her reflecting on how the victims seemed to be connected to him as well as his criminal past, however, later notes, following the interrogation, mentioned how talking with him had given her new perspective, even if she still maintained that he should be closely monitored, and that she didn't fully trust him.

"My dear sister has taken quite an interest in you," Shiro said with a half-smile, "From what I understood, she was even considering having a plain clothes officer tag you between school and your house. She seems to have mostly dropped that idea, or at least, reformed it."

"What do you mean?" Daisuke asked.

"She might get students to keep tabs on you."

"Huh?" Ryoji looked confused, "She wants spies in the school?"

"Put simply, yes," Shiro nodded, "Maybe they'll do it out of sense of duty, or perhaps for a letter of recommendation. You never know what people might do."

"But Daisuke did nothing wrong!" Yukino rebutted.

"That's not what matters," Shiro shrugged, "At this moment, he looks suspicious. And the only one that suspicion can be lifted is if the real killer is found. And that's on us, isn't it?"

"Yes, on _us_." Tatsuya repeated, "Don't you think you owe us some answers?"

Shiro stared back at Tatsuya and then took a look around to the others. Finally, he sighed, adjusting himself:

"You're right. I did show up announced and disappeared after the mission," he closed his eyes, nodding, "It's only fair. Ask away."

Tatsuya took a brief moment of consideration before finally asking: "How did you find out about the Watch?"

"I'd heard the rumour before, although I don't remember from where," Shiro said, looking up, thinking, "At first I thought it was ridiculous. Nothing but some silly legend. Still, it peaked my curiosity enough that I did look into it. I saw Yumeno-senpai's final Watch. When she disappeared right afterwards, I knew that there was something very wrong in this town. Worse yet when she was found dead right afterwards."

"Did you get the app then?" Daisuke questioned.

"It did appear then, yes." He nodded, "I did not press it immediately, however. Curiosity might eventually be my downfall, but I'm more cautious than curious. I thought it must have been some sort of virus, so I looked into it instead of actually using it. I found no results in my search."

"Oh, how did you find out about us?" Yukino inquired, "You said that you eavesdropped on us, but why?"

"I did not yet know about his former life," Shiro said, signalling Daisuke with his head, "But something about his attitude and fierceness in kendo practice made me think he was used to fighting 'for real'. As the escaped victims suddenly seemed to all flock to him, my suspicion only worsened. I began to prod him for answers then, try and overhear your group's conversations. I apologize for my rudeness, but you must understand, first and foremost, I wanted to stop the Killer."

The group all traded looks between each other. Shiro seemed to be telling the truth, there didn't seem to be any sort of nervousness in his speech. Either he was being completely factual, or he was an unbelievably skilled liar. To Daisuke's frustration, he couldn't tell which of the two scenarios was the right one.

"I entered the place you call the Shadow World for the first time shortly after Ryoji-san was rescued," He said, continuing even if nobody had yet placed the question, "I had heard you talk about the app as a gate, so I tested it. Suffice it say, my mind was blow away with what I was seeing. And even more once my doppelgänger appeared."

"Your Shadow," Daisuke said, "What was it like?"

"It was quite a sinister encounter," Shiro looked down for a moment, "Much like Maki-san, I too lost someone close to me. My mother died of an illness when I was merely a child. My father never really recovered. He threw himself into his work as a police officer, even at the expense of his well being. In the end, he got himself to deep into a particular case and he was killed."

Daisuke felt a shiver down his spine, a feeling that had certainly been shared by the others, Maki in particular. Even if Shiro still sounded complete calm and pleasant as always, it was obvious that talking about it still pained him. That he had lost someone close to him was not something they had just found out, he had alluded to it before, but to know the full extent of it was heartbreaking. The fact he was so seemingly well off in life after living through that was no short of incredible.

"I've blamed myself for years, for both of them. Lately, I had been able to shut those thoughts somewhere in the back of my head and focus on my studies and on kendo," he said, "Having my Shadow bring them back was... Well it was hard. I rejected it, and it began attacking me. Like Prince, it used a sword to try and cut me. Since I had overheard you talk about it, I had been prepared and brought my own kendo sword as a defensive tool. Of course that it did not work. It beat me up quite a bit."

"How did you beat it, senpai?" Maki asked on the edge of her seat.

"Well... I didn't really. It's not about beating the Shadow, after all," Shiro made a half-smile, "As it was ready to kill me, I remembered my sister and how she was becoming more like my father, always going case after case, seeking to arrest every criminal in the world. I thought to myself that, it was too late to save my parents, but I still had time to save her. That yes, maybe I could've done more. And I was going to do it now. By helping her and stopping the killer."

Shiro paused, taking a deep breath, awaiting for questions that didn't come. Even if some doubts still remained on how or why he had done something, it wasn't particularly easy to follow-up after that. Daisuke was the one to finally talk:

"So... What's our move now?"

Shiro opened his eyes again, making what seemed to be a thankful half-smile, before focusing again, making a gesture for Daisuke to turn the page on the binder. Curious, he nodded, flipping the page to find another report on a person of interest. The picture in the corner was of a young man with a square jaw and a hard eyes. He had medium length black hair that fell in a fringe on his forehead and a small goatee. He had small studs on his ears and even if the picture cut just below the shoulders, it seemed he was wearing the school's uniform. His eyes widened as he read the suspect's name and he pronounced it out loud for the others to hear:

"Kyohei Akaashi."

"That's the guy she asked you about!" Tatsuya said, his curiosity was ablaze.

"Yes," Daisuke nodded, then looked at Shiro: "He's a Budoga student?"

"A third year," He confirmed, "Seems that he is known as a bit of a problem student. Teachers my sister spoke to say he regularly skips class and when he does attend, he seems to not care. Also seems to have a unique relationship with the law, as he has been reported a few times for vandalism and even getting into fights." Shiro paused for a moment: "More importantly: He was the last person that saw Mayoi Yumeno alive."


	26. Ch26: Happy

**Happy**

A familiar jingle came from the loudspeakers all over the store, being immediately followed by a pre-recorded message announcing the day's special sales. Since he had begun his shift that day, it was already the sixth or third time Daisuke heard about the sale on ice cream. He couldn't help but mumble it to himself, mimicking the almost robotic tone to near perfection. He rubbed his hands against the fabric of his work apron, then crouching down to pick up a heavy cardboard box containing several cans of soup that he was supposed to lay out in a display, placing them in a pyramid next to the sign that announced a sale on them.

It had been only few weeks since Daisuke had taken the part-time job at LuckyLand, yet he was already beginning to grow tired of it. Mostly, he was in charge of restocking the shelves and placing products on displays, like he was doing then, but he had once taken the role of cashier... for all of an hour, until his supervisor had decided he wasn't fit for it in any capacity. Even if he hadn't been told why that was, Yukino had later informed him, struggling to contain her laughter, that he had been rejected because two separate old ladies had called him "intimidating" and "scary-looking".

He reached the intended place, laying the box on the edge of the table and then starting to pull the cans from inside it, carefully placing them into the pyramid shape. As he did, he couldn't help but snicker at the thought of how absurd it was that he was making small pyramids out of canned goods, when months prior, he had entered a version of that building that had itself been transformed into a pyramid. Were it not for the fear of him and his friends dying, he'd much rather be battling Shadows in that pyramid, rather than stacking cans like he was now.

"Aw, shit!"

He cursed louder than he would've liked, garnering some looks from customers passing by. He had accidentally knocked one of the cans, making it fall straight on top of his foot. For something that didn't seem all that heavy, it sure made his foot throb with pain. He looked to his side, still jumping on one foot, seeing the can roll along the recently cleaned floor until it was stopped by a foot. As his eyes drifted upwards, he found Yukino's face, as she smirked at him, loving the absurd spectacle he was putting up.

"You really are a walking disaster," she joked, kneeling down to pick up the deadly can of soup, "Catch."

He did so, catching the can in the air as she threw it, trying to wipe way the image of his clumsiness by passing the can behind his back with unnecessary flair, before placing it back down on the pyramid. Even as he did, he couldn't help but wonder why he had made himself look like an even bigger tool.

"Was that supposed to look cool?" Yukino giggled, putting her hand in front of her mouth.

"I'm not even sure, myself," he made an awkward smile, turning back to the pyramid, placing the last few cans in place, "Are you still on your shift?"

"It just ended," she said, pulling the sleeve of her striped shirt to look at her watch, "Shouldn't you be out by now too?"

"Yeah," he nodded, picking up the empty box, "I'll just go throw this out and I'll meet you outside."

Yukino agreed as they parted ways, Daisuke going out to the back of the store, leaving by a staff only door into a backstreet, where he folded the box, before throwing it over inside one of the large rubbish bins. Cleaning his hands, he moved back into the store, making his way across the packed isles, and into the staff room, as he took out his store sanctioned cream and blue apron, leaving it in his locker.

"Ichijou-kun."

Daisuke recognised the voice, turning around, closing his locker. A man in a sports blazer had just entered the staff area. He was a bit shorter than Daisuke, and more heavily built, with short and straight black hair and oval glasses. It wasn't immediately recognizable, but upon a longer look, one would start to see similarities, and come to the conclusion that man was Yukino's father, Taro Yamaguchi.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yeah, my shift's just over," the youth said, "Do you want something, sir?"

"No, no. It's nothing," Yamaguchi-san said with a dismissive gesture, not saying anything while Daisuke prepared to leave, before finally talking again, "Although… Yukino told me that she will go with you to Nanjo tomorrow?"

"Oh, huh, yeah," Daisuke mumbled, "We and the rest of our friends wanted to go to the beach there."

"Hum… I see," the man nodded, more to himself than to him, "Just so you know, I think that you are a good lad, and I'm glad my daughter found good friends this year."

"Huh, thank you, sir."

"That being said," he furrowed his brow, "I hope that you two keep your clothes on during this trip."

Daisuke didn't even know how to react to that. He felt his face become redder with embarrassment, and his mouth open a bit from shock, but overall, his head was a mess, as a multitude of ideas passed by his head, some of them, that Yamaguchi-san had implanted there, clearly against his agenda. _Does he...? Does he think we're dating? Does he think we're not only dating, but already THAT FAR into it?_

"You got what I meant, didn't you?" Yamaguchi-san was serious in his tone, but seemingly also completely aware of how awkward the situation was, "If you want my blessing, I expect you two to behave. My girl deserves respect."

"Hey, why are you taking so lo—Oh, dad."

Yukino had walked in from the other door, clearly exasperated from waiting for Daisuke, but then surprised in finding her father there. She looked from one to the other, trying to decipher the tone of their talk from the awkward look on the faces' of them both. It seemed like she was unsure if she should even bother asking or not, but finally she bit the bullet:

"What's going on…?"

"Oh, nothing, Yuuki-chan," her father laughed, a laugh so force it could put even the worst clown to shame, "I was checking something with Ichijou-kun."

Yukino looked to Daisuke who nodded immediately, trying his best to assume a more normal expression with mixed results, judging by the look the girl gave him. Still, after a quick talk with her father, telling him she would be back later, Yukino left with her friend. As Daisuke looked behind his back, Yamaguchi-san left him with another stern look. Another clear warning that he wouldn't tolerate tomfoolery between them. Daisuke sighed, putting his hands in his pockets, continuing along.

"So… Where do you wanna go?" Yukino asked, as the both of them left the store's doors.

"I have no idea," he shrugged, avoiding looking at her, "Do you know if Tatsuya or Riko are busy?"

"Not sure, they probably are also on their part-times," she leaned her head to the side, "Either that, or getting ready for the trip… Oh!" She stopped, remembering something as she looked at him, "Did you invite Shiro-san?"

"I didn't even think about it," he admitted, "Tatsuya was the one organizing the whole thing, so I wouldn't be surprised if he 'forgot' to invite him. Then again, maybe he's too busy."

"Oh…" Yukino looked down. As she looked back up, she had a fun smile on her face, "This is supposed to be our summer vacation, where we can just relax and have fun. And we got ourselves into work. It's kinda funny, really... Well, at least, the killer hasn't done anything since Maki-chan's kidnapping."

He hadn't, that was true. Ever since Shiro had shown Daisuke and the others the file on Kyohei Akaashi, he had been on the lookout for him. While they still had been in classes, he had even ventured into the third floor of Budoga a few times just to try and catch a glimpse of their prime suspect. Rarely had he found him, but when he did, Akaashi was almost always by himself, only sometimes was he accompanied by someone else. More often than not, his company was Satsuki Toriumi, the student council president. He couldn't tell if they were friends, or if Toriumi checked on him as part of her duties, but as far as he knew, she was the only student who didn't steer away from him. Oddly enough, Daisuke had been running into the student president quite a few times as of late, not only during school either, he had twice found her amidst LuckyLand's isles, seemingly browsing, but never actually looking invested in her shopping. As he thought more about it, he recalled Shiro's warning that Asuka could try and get someone to keep tabs on him. Could Toriumi be acting as a spy, or was he just being an egomaniac?

"Daicchi."

Daisuke was startled as Yukino snapped her fingers in front of his face. Apparently, he had become so enthralled in his thoughts that he had stopped well before his friend, who was now looking at him in a mixture of curiosity and worry:

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking about something," he answered dismissively, "I think I'll send Shiro a text, asking him if he wants to come tomorrow."

"You know Tatsu won't be too happy to have him come along," Yukino said, "But I guess that him not being there would be unfair. He is part of the team, now."

 _And I need to ask him about Toriumi and Akaashi_ , Daisuke completed mentally, as he took his phone from his pocket, quickly typing away a question. It only took for him to take a few more steps before his phone buzzed with an answer: " _Sounds fun. I'll try and join you."_

"I'm surprised he's so eager about it," Yukino opined, as Daisuke showed her the text, "Last time that we all hung out, he almost died from food poisoning."

"Maybe the trauma blocked it from his memory," he shrugged, "I didn't even eat the curry and I instantly feel a chill in my spin when I see Keiko Nakamura."

"Well, at least you didn't actually have to sleep in the same tent as her," she sighed, "Before dinner she kept talking about how Shiro-san was so dreamy. She also talked about you and Tatsuya. Don't tell him that, though, he would not shut up about it."

"Really? What did she say?"

"I don't remember, maybe I also blocked it," she looked away for a moment, before adding in a lower tone of voice, "She probably just wanted to annoy me and Riko. But, at least, she seemed to get a bit more self-aware after that disaster, she didn't speak nearly as much during the night."

Daisuke nodded distractedly, looking around them before something caught his attention. From the corner of his eye, he saw a glimpse of someone that seemed to be watching them from near one of the shops. Before Daisuke could get a good look at the person, however, they had disappeared into a side street, walking away briskly.

"Did you see that?" He asked, looking at Yukino quickly and then back to the previous, now empty, spot.

"See what?" She turned to follow where he pointed.

"Someone was spying on us," he took a spring in his step, speeding up his march towards the place, looking around the corner, but finding nobody there. The streets forked into various other side streets, and it was anyone's guess as to wherever the person had gone to, if there even was a person at all and Daisuke didn't imagine them. He followed along into the fork, looking to each of the streets, but there was no sign of anybody. Whomever it was, if someone was there, had disappeared.

"Damn it," he cursed, striking the wall with his hand in frustration.

"Are you sure you saw someone?" Yukino asked concerned, catching up to him.

"No, but… Damn it!" He tried to recall what he had seen. It was only from the corner of his eye, so being certain was nearly impossible, yet still, he had a hunch, a hunch that was burning up inside him so much that he couldn't ignore it, "I think it was Akaashi."

"Akaashi?" Yukino looked at him, her grey eyes flickering, "But if it's him…"

"That means he's onto us."

* * *

"Here we are: Nanjo!"

Tatsuya opened his arms as he left the train, prompting a few looks of curiosity and amusement from the other passengers. As Daisuke stepped off the train, adjusting his bag to his shoulder, he could see that the station was actually smaller than Morioh's, but the building was much more open, allowing the light and the pleasant summer breeze to greet the new visitors. Still, he was forced to use his free hand to shield his eyes from the sun's intense rays.

Tatsuya took the lead, as he began to exist the station, Riko and Yukino following right behind him, with Maki and Ryoji after them, closing the line, Daisuke walked next to Shiro, while Garm's head poked from out of his bag.

"Wow… There's so many people here," the canine commented, putting his paws over the side of the bag to look around, "Thanks for bringing me!"

"No problem," Daisuke smiled at his companion, then taking a look around, "Just, hum… Be careful to not do, you know, 'non-dog things'."

Garm agreed happily, as he continued to scout around, enthralled by the town. Nanjo was about a third of the way between Moriohcho and S-City, being a popular place for vacations for many of the City's inhabitants, and apparently, from Moriohnites as well. Most houses weren't inhabited outside the summer, serving only as vacation retreats, that, combined with the local shops and the hotels gave the town a very touristic feel, very different from Morioh's rustic, stopped in time look. At the edge of the town, the sea seemed to go on forever, gentle waves slowly rolling into the light sand, where a large number of parasols and towels were laid out, as tourists and locals alike enjoyed the delights of the beach.

"Wow…" Maki looked on towards the sea in awe, getting on her tippy toes, "It's so pretty."

"I've seen pictures of the "Nanjo Sunset" before, but I'm looking forward to seeing it in person," Ryoji added, his arms stretched forward, using his fingers to make a 'frame', "Paint it too."

As they got closer to the beach, the changing tents came into view, being separated into two camps, with the men's tents being closer to where they were, while the women ones were further away, next to another entrance.

"We'll be going then," Riko said, using her thumb to point behind her to the tents, "Let's meet up by that watermelon stand."

Agreeing to it, the group split up, Maki and Yukino following Riko towards the women's tents, with the boys walking inside the men's. Daisuke found the actual private changing area to be cramped, barely allowing any lateral movement, it was, however tall, allowing him to stand up straight and not have to bend down to not hit his head. In a few moments, his street clothes were stored in the bag and he was now only wearing black trunks that came to just about his knees and had navy trim. As he took a glance at his reflection in the small, slightly dirty mirror, he noticed that his adventures in the Shadow World and kendo practice had helped him get a better physique, but at the cost of a few bruises and scars, one of them, on his left side, was quite long even if it was thin. Yukino's stand had done wonders to heal his wounds, but they still had left markings on him. They were a gruesome reminder that he wasn't invincible.

"Mate, are you taking the piss, right now?" Tatsuya asked as soon as they met, exiting the tents, "Can you wear anything other than black? Are you allergic to colours?"

Tatsuya and Ryoji stood next to each other, the blonde boy wore trunks that were yellow at his waist and gradually became white until ending at his mid thighs. Like Daisuke, Tatsuya also had a few bruises and scratches on him, and while still having the physique of an habitual athlete, he was a bit skinnier than his friend. Ryoji by his side, wore a baggy white t-shirt, instead of having a bare chest like the two others, seemingly to protect himself and his easily burnt pale skin. His trunks were of a lime green colour, with a white polka dot pattern.

"What's wrong with me wearing black?" Daisuke asked, "You always wear yellow."

"Not always," he shook his head, "Besides, yellow doesn't make me look like an edgelord."

"I don't look like an edgelord."

"You kind of do, senpai," Ryoji opined, half-flinching when Daisuke turned to face him, "Perhaps a bit of colour could help."

"Don't listen to them."

Shiro exited the changing tents then, walking up to them. His trunks were shorter, like Ryoji's, of an off-white colour, with a single beige stripe on the sides. His build was much closer to the other two second years, rather than Ryoji. As he neared them, he took a hair band from his wrist, catching some of his hair in a messy bun.

"That's your unique style," he said in a snarky tone, "From what I understood, some of my admirers turned to his because they liked his dark and broody look."

"Shut up, that's not true," Tatsuya said, exasperated, "Who would have a crush on this guy?"

"More people than on you, it seems." Garm said, jumping from Daisuke's bag, out onto the street.

Tatsuya opened his mouth to reply, finger in the air, but from as the others all began to laugh, he seemingly saw it as a lost cause and said no reply, instead grumbling that they should get going to the meeting place. They ended up agreeing with the disgruntled Tatsuya, following him. Daisuke kept looking around, as his curiosity was peaked. It had been at least a few years since he and his parents had last visited Nanjo, but everything seemed to be generally the same, if one did not count the larger influx of people, of course. He wondered if the town had become so popular of a tourism spot, that people from around the country were now coming there.

"How do you walk in this place?" Garm asked, frustrated as his paws kept sinking into the sand as he struggled to keep pace with the others, "It's so agonizing."

"Want me to pick you up?" Daisuke suggested.

"No!" Garm shook his head energetically, "I won't let this 'beach' defeat me."

Daisuke shrugged, continuing behind Tatsuya until they finally came to a stop. They were sensibly halfway between the two groups of changing tents, next to them was a cart where a middle-aged man with a moustache peddled his fresh watermelons, still untouched or already in slices, and a variety of other fruits. As they arrived, there was no sign of the girls.

"Typical," Tatsuya said, "Always late."

"You're always late for everything," Daisuke rebutted, "Not like you have much of a moral high ground."

"Yeah, yeah..." the blond grumbled, arms crossed. He turned his head back onto the beach, his gaze wondering around, longingly in some cases, "You know, we don't need 'em. There's plenty of hot girls around here, anyway."

"So that was your plan all along, senpai…" Ryoji sighed, looking down.

"What?" Tatsuya looked at him, "I meant it when I said this would be a cool thing for us to do."

"And watching the girls in swimsuits wasn't a factor?" Daisuke raised an eyebrow.

"Well... yeah, it was," Tatsuya admitted, before raising his head again, "So what? It's still a fun trip for all of us."

"For all of us or for you, Tatsuya Mikado?"

Tatsuya froze in place, recognizing the voice behind him, seeing the look on his friends' faces before he turned away to see that the girls had not only just arrived, they had heard his admission of guilt. It had been Riko who talked, standing in front of the other girls, her face red in a mixture of embarrassment and rage. She wore a two-piece swimsuit, with the top being striped in white and orange, while the bottoms were akin to shorts and were of a solid orange. Oddly enough, being in the middle, she was exactly the middle ground between the two others, in terms of heigh, but also build. To her right, Maki seemed to be dying of embarrassment, her face completely red, the short girl trying to cover her face with a straw hat she wore. Her swimsuit was light pink, with white dots that became bigger as they went down, ending in frills. Due to her normally baggy street clothes, it was hard to notice, but she was much more curvaceous than would expect. Ryoji, noticeably, had his gaze fixed on her. Yukino was the last one to arrive, stepping up to Riko's left, she had tied her hair in a loose braid over her shoulder, and she immediately drew Daisuke's eyes: like Riko's her swimsuit was a two piece, the top was dark-blue with a white trim, while the bottoms were a frilly white skirt. Tried as he might, Daisuke couldn't help but let his gaze wander as he stared at her. Even if her chest was less imposing than the others', her figure, with her slim waist, wide hips and long legs could not shake his eyes. As she noticed him staring, she made an annoyed "hmpf!", her cheeks reddening, forcing him to look away at the sand. _Well there goes my moral high ground_ _..._

"I knew it was a scheme to begin with," Riko said, crossing her arms, half to demonstrate her annoyance, half to cover her chest from potential perverted gazes, "But good to know that you admitted it."

"I was kidding!" Tatsuya said, a lie so obvious it was almost funny. He looked nervously to the others, but none of them dared to say a word, as afraid of repercussions as he was. He chuckled nervously, "You look great, by the way."

"Ugh, grow up!" Riko scoffed, even if the sudden compliment had startled her a bit. She turned around towards the other two, "Come on, let's go for a walk, away from these jerks."

"We didn't do anything!" Ryoji lamented.

"You went along with _his_ plan," Yukino responded, looking over her shoulder, "Come with us, Garm-chan. Let's go have fun without _them_."

"Don't you dare betray us," Tatsuya looked down at him with brow furrowed.

Garm looked to Tatsuya first, then to Daisuke and then Tatsuya again, before grinning and barking happily is a followed along after the girls, as they went near the water, walking away, leaving the four boys behind, watching them as they went. Shiro let out a sigh, shaking his head.

"That literal son of a bitch, how dare he," Tatsuya mouthed, angrily, before turning to the others, "Ok, guys, change of plans."

"Your scheme got them angry with us, you nob," Daisuke replied, folding his arms, "Do you want to rub salt in the wound too?"

"I want to actually do anything that's not staring at your ugly mugs," he replied, "So here's the plan: We go on a babe hunt."

"A what?" Ryoji looked like he could die from second and first hand embarrassment.

"Does your perversion know no bounds?" Shiro asked.

"Don't be party poopers," he complained, "Come on, let's try and find some girls to hang out with us. When Riko and the others see us they'll be so jealous…"

Even with none of them actually having a chance to agree or disagree, Tatsuya had already slithered amidst the towels and the parasols, on the prowl. As the others traded disgruntled looks amongst them, they decided to follow him, more on a wave of damage control, than actual wish to partake in his strange diversion, that would surely make their female friends more annoyed.

"Hey… Look, there we go." Tatsuya announced, pointing out two girls by the sea. Even if neither of them were really his type, even if he wasn't too sure what his type even was, Daisuke found both of them attractive, "Ok, guys, watch and learn."

Tatsuya strode forward with absolute confidence. The girls didn't seem to notice him at first, until he spoke, making them turn to him with raised eyebrows. By Daisuke's side, Ryoji covered his eyes awaiting disaster. They had stayed a few meters away, making hearing the conversation a bit hard, but from the expressions on the girls faces, Tatsuya's wooing operation seemed to be going as well as expected. Finally, Tatsuya watched on as the girls left, almost mirroring what their friends had done just before.

"No luck, eh?" Daisuke asked as they caught up to him.

"Called me a kid," he replied, looking down, "You can say no and not hurt my pride, damn it."

"Ready to call it quits and apologize to the girls?" Daisuke's words, more than a question where a plea.

"Do you think I'd give up at the first hurdle?" Tatsuya smirked, "Now, come on, you guys help out too. Think of this as making friends. Hot friends, but friends."

Tatsuya was on the move again before they could protest. What followed was a time where they systemically went around the beach, trying to talk to girls around their age, trying to get them to hang out with them, all the while trying their hardest to not look like the loser creeps that they probably were, by that point. After a second failed attempt by Tatsuya, Ryoji had been sent forth, his 'teacher' banking on his friendly disposition and artist talk to score points. However, Ryoji froze completely as soon as he approached the girl he was meant to talk to, mumbling so much that she thought he was having some sort of mental breakdown, until he eventually set off running away. Daisuke was tasked with the next try, going along with it purely so Tatsuya wouldn't complain again. As he neared the girls that Tatsuya pointed out, they instantly backed off, assuming he was trying to mug them. Even as he tried to talk, they still kept their distance, and he eventually gave up, returning to the group, with his self-esteemed closer to the gutter yet again.

"Well at least it's not just me," Tatsuya said, hands on his hips, head shaking, "Fine… We are losers. I give up."

"Shiro-san?"

Shiro seemed to freeze in place as all the others looked behind him, towards a familiar voice. Keiko Nakamura was waving at them with a large smile on her face. Unlike her usual pigtails, she had her strawberry blonde hair down, falling on her bare shoulders. She wore a grey bikini swimsuit that emphasized her great shape, while also not having her body covered in small bruises and scars like their friends. Even if he didn't like the girl as a person, Daisuke could not deny how attractive she was.

"Nakamura-san," Shiro finally said, with a smile that was as fake as they come.

"Hey, hum…" she looked to the side, towards the sea, momentarily, before looking back at him. Her expression was one that they had never seen on her before, "I just wanted to apologize, for the camping trip. I was a real pain to you. I'm sorry."

"Oh," Shiro looked legitimately surprised, and he wasn't the only one. From what they knew of the girl, she did not seem like the type to ever apologize, "It's ok, don't worry about it."

"Still, I'm sorry," she smiled. She looked quickly at Shiro's companions, making a curious face, "Are you on a boys-only trip? Shouldn't Yamaguchi and Kida be with you?"

"We are."

Almost as if on cue, the girls walked closer to them, approaching from the edge of the sea. Riko and Yukino walked side by side, while Maki was just after them, holding Garm in her arms, the dog seemed to have enjoyed his time with the girls tremendously. They seemed to have calmed down and were prepared to talk to them again, but as they noticed with whom they were talking to, Riko's face seemed to grow cranky or, more appropriately, tired again.

"You're back!" Tatsuya said in what was a mixture of a cheer and an announcement of regret.

"Do you want something, Nakamura?" Riko asked, not hiding some distaste on her voice.

"No, not really. I just happened your friends, and knew I had to apologize to Shiro-san for the camping trip," she looked away. She still didn't seem to fond of Riko and the other girls, but seemed like the bad experience on the mountains had in fact taken its toll on her, and calmed some of her worse traits, "Look, I don't want to be a bother. It's just that since I'm here with my parents, I rarely get to hang out with people my age... I'll leave if you want."

"No, it's ok," Yukino was the one to answer, not Riko. The girl with auburn hair looked at her from the side, but ended up sighing, letting Yukino continue: "You're welcome to stay with us, Keiko-san. Besides, this makes us an even number."

"What does our number have to do with anything…?" Tatsuya asked, perking up, nearly forgetting himself.

"We found an open net by the entrance," Maki said, still holding tight onto Garm, "Riko-senpai said that we could play together."

"Are you serious?" Tatsuya's eyes lit up, "Let's go then!"

"Hey, aren't you forgetting something?" Riko countered, raising her hand.

"Huh…?" He looked confused for a second, as the eyes of all the others focused on him. As he understood, he sighed, putting his hand to his face, "Fine… I'm an ass. I'm sorry."

Riko looked at him with a critical eye and an eyebrow raised, waiting until Tatsuya did a rigid bow, and even then, she only conceded after Maki and Yukino told her it was fine. Still, as they walked together away, Riko still mumbled a "Stupid Tatsuya" under her breath. As they began to walk together again, Daisuke found Yukino by his side, she kept taking sideways glances at him, waiting him to say something, until he finally apologized. She granted him a smile that dispelled any hard feelings, and they continued on. The promised net was found by an ice cream stand. The court around it was only big enough for two versus two play, and was built with dark blue tape, with weights on the corners. As the others set their beach towels by the side of the court, Tatsuya hurriedly took the volleyball he had brought with him from his bag.

"Alright then!" Tatsuya made the yellow and blue ball spin around with his fingers, stepping into the court, "This net is made for two v twos, so which of the lovely ladies wants to be my partner?" He stopped the ball from spinning with dexterity, tossing it up in the air, grabbing it as it came down, "And yes, we are four gents to four damsels, so it's only natural we have mixed te—."

"Fine, just shut up," Riko said, getting up from laying her towel and walking by him. She punched him lightly on the shoulder, "I have my eyes on you, Bakatsuya."

"Yes, ma'am," he said immediately, saluting rigidly. He grinned as he noticed Riko make a half-smile behind him, and then look at the others: "Well, ok, then. Than the settles that: Tatsuya and Riko, we're Team Awesome. So… Ryo and Maki, you two are Team Kids."

"We're only a year younger than you, senpai…" Maki said, still petting Garm.

"You're kids to me," he snickered, turning away, "So that leaves us with Team Crazy and Team Outsiders."

"Team Crazy?" Daisuke and Yukino asked in unison. They looked at each other quickly, taken aback by the unintentional synchronicity. Yukino, continued: "Why are we 'Team Crazy', exactly?"

"I appreciate that you two immediately knew who I meant, even without pointing at you," the blond said, throwing the ball at Daisuke, "Send me a killer serve, crow."

He caught the ball, spinning it in his hands and then trading a glance with Yukino once again, they went along, stepping inside the tape that marked the dimensions of the court. Daisuke however, went further back, exiting the court again at the far end, to prepare his serve. As he did, he noticed the ones on the outside cheering them on, as they awaited their turn to play. As he looked forward, he saw Riko and Tatsuya awaiting for the serve, both of them with their game faces on, they would play to win. Yukino looked back at him and nodded, she didn't want to lose either. He smirked, tossing the ball in the air and jumping for the serve.

He didn't quite know for how long they played, but Daisuke felt like time was running at twice or thrice the regular speed. Even if him and Yukino had ended up losing their first match, unable to contain Tatsuya's obvious talent and experience at the game, he had had a blast while playing, and even outside the court, as he sat and watched the others play. Ryoji and Maki's height of height and coordination made them the obvious worse team, yet both of them still laughed away and sometimes even did surprisingly well, as when they nearly beat Shiro and Keiko, who had actually formed an interesting partnership, despite the girl's old chattiness returning. For the first time in a long time, the killer was far away from his mind, as was school, the Shadows, and anything else. As they later dived into the cold, but refreshing sea and got to play inside, like they were just children again, he realized that was the most fun he could remember having. Not fighting, unlike what he used to believe, but hanging around with his friends.

With his messy hair and his shorts soaked, he sat back down on is towel, arms around his knees as he looked forward out into the sea, as the sky began to turn orange and the sun began to set. He noticed Ryoji hastily setting up to paint the famous Nanjo sunset, as Maki and Garm helped him, by bringing him the stuff he needed. Shiro sat a few meters ahead of him, a book on his lap, as Keiko, sitting by his side, tried to get him to talk about it. Tatsuya distractedly rolled the ball with his foot, while he and Riko by his side had what seemed to be an impossible to follow, but amicable argument, almost mocking their earlier spat, rather than repeat it.

"You're smiling a lot."

Daisuke looked to his side to Yukino who was just sitting down, after putting on a sky-blue hoodie, leaving it unzipped.

"You normally are a lot more broody," she said, tugging at threads of her hood.

"Heard it's part of my charm," he mocked, smirking.

"Kind of," she chuckled, before adding, in a tone that was barely more than a whisper, "But I really like to see you smile."

For a while, they didn't speak again. As all of them just looked forward, towards the setting sun, as the sounds of seagulls and waves crashing against the sand droned on. As Yukino slowly leaned against his arm, head on his shoulder, he couldn't help but think that, whatever the killer could do tomorrow, or the day after, at least nothing could take away those memories. They were his to keep. And he was happy.


	27. Ch27: Blindsided

**Ch27: Blindsided**

As the holidays began to run their course, the dread of a return to classes began to set in. For the days following their trip to Nanjo, the team continued to hang out together, sometimes in smaller groups or in pairs, as their still running part-times for the summer and the exorbitant amount of homework dampened their ability to get together. Still, as the last days of August began to rear their head, Daisuke had taken the time to try and spend at least a day with all of his friends.

Shortly after the trip, he had went with Riko back to the antique shop. After letting go off his sword to hold Yukino during the fight with Shadow Maki, he hadn't been able to recover it, leaving it behind in the Shadow World. As the sword was now probably lost and broken beneath the rubble of the collapsed school/space-station, he needed to find a replacement weapon. The old lady on the counter had instantly recognized Daisuke, despite his best efforts to hide his face with a baseball cap and his free hand. His poor attempt at being incognito wouldn't really work either way, since Riko was as easily recognizable as anybody in the small town where nearly everyone knew everyone. When the Old Lady went to the back off the shop, Daisuke couldn't help but feel nervous:

"She's probably already calling the police," Daisuke whispered to Riko by his side, using his hand to make his voice even quieter, "Why did you think this was a good idea?"

"Relax, nothing's gonna happen... probably," Riko said with a dishonest smile, "A kid who looks like a gang member buying two swords in a few months and arming his friends isn't suspicious."

"Riko, I swear, if we go to jail, I'm blaming it on you," he said, sighing.

She made her forced smile even wider, as the lady returned. To Daisuke's surprise, she hadn't brought with her the police or even some hunky nephew to kick them out, but a large pristinely wrapped box that she laid on the table. Daisuke moved his hand to touch the box, but the woman pulled it back over the counter, making him freeze. For a moment, he thought if she wasn't just hiding a shotgun inside the box and was ready to shoot him away.

"This sword is one of the most expensive antiques we have here," She said, her eyes staring down the much taller youth, "I do not know what you young whippersnappers are doing with the weapons you have been buying from here, but the truth is, you kids are good customers. I am willing to throw a discount on the sword, but you must promise you aren't doing anything shady."

"We're not," Riko said immediately. Even if they really weren't her quick draw on the answer was suspicious.

"Not you, Riko-chan," The woman shook her head, "Your tall friend."

"I promise," Daisuke said, conferring extra meaning to his words by putting his free left hand on his chest, "I'm using it for a good reason. Believe me."

The woman looked at him again for a few moments longer, before finally pushing the box towards him again. Daisuke traded a quick look with Riko before finally opening the black box, sliding the lid to reveal a sheathed katana in pristine condition. Its grip was quite similar to his previous one, with a round shiny, steel cross-guard and a black hilt. As Daisuke picked it up he could feel that it was heavier than his previous one, and it also seemed to be slightly longer. As he unsheathed it a few inches, he revealed a glossy black blade that looked sharper and deadlier than the lost sword. There was an inscription on the body of the blade, next to the cross-guard that read " _Zantetsuken_ ".

"That sword is said to have belonged to a legendary samurai born in the region," Old Mrs. Sakura said, as both Daisuke and Riko were entranced by the peculiar blade, "It's said it could cut through any other common sword. Of course, that is an old legend and I wouldn't trust it, but is still a very valuable antique."

What Daisuke wasn't so entranced by, however, was the extremely steep price on the sword. Even with what seemed to be a rather generous discount, he still had to empty out nearly everything he had, and he was still going to have to continue working at LuckyLand to pay what he was missing. It was with wildly mixed feelings that he ended up leaving the antique shop, clutching the boxed sword in his hands: a fervour to try out his new weapon but also the crippling depression of the price tag.

"Well… At least your new sword looks really cool," Riko said once they were a few steps away from the store, "Steel-cutting sword! Sounds badass."

"And I'm completely out of money," he sighed, "I'm gonna have to work at LuckyLand until spring to pay that."

"That's not so bad, you have Yuuki's company too," she shrugged, "At least you have something to do in between the homework and the Shadow hunting."

Daisuke gave her a tired sideways glance, which must have looked funny, as Riko ended up chuckling. As an apology for laughing, she offered to pay for ice cream as they both continued to walk the town. They made haste for the small ice cream parlour had been open for the whole month next to the steak skewer one in what seemed to be a tradition of sorts.

As Daisuke sat down on one of the plastic tables, he glanced around at the shopping district, looking for any sign of Akaashi or of Toriumi. Ever since the day before the beach trip, when he had noticed someone spying on them, he had grown progressively more paranoid about scouting around in search of their prime subject, yet still, he either knew how to hide better, he had stopped following him, just as the Student Council President had, probably as Asuka had told her to rest and enjoy the holidays. As the investigation had come to a sluggish pace, however, he was itching for a clue or a sign, something to which he could cling to and validate his suspicions. Something that could finally allow him to fit all the pieces into that messy puzzle with no answer.

"Here ya go."

Riko had returned to the table, holding two small cups with ice cream, giving one of them to him. While not the sweetest, that cold vanilla flavour tasted great with the heat that insisted in not leaving Morioh. Besides, he wasn't to keen on excessive sweetness anyway.

"What's up?" Riko asked, laying her small plastic spoon back on the cup, "You seem out of it."

"I was thinking about the case again," he admitted.

"I assumed that was it," Riko said holding her chin with her left hand, "I was talking about it with Tatsuya yesterday. He has an idea."

"Tatsuya and ideas?" Daisuke snickered, "It must be good then."

"I know, I know. I still haven't forgiven him for his last great plan," Riko said with a half-smile, "But he thinks instead of us letting the killer come to us, we go to him."

"That's dangerous," Daisuke replied immediately without much thought.

"We don't know that yet," Riko shrugged, "Shiro-kun and his sister think it's that Akaashi person, but they have no real proof right? Tatsuya is beginning to think maybe someone else could be the killer. Still, why don't we try finding Akaashi's house or something? Maybe he's the killer, maybe he's not. We won't know if we just wait."

She was right, he thought. They had been after the killer for months and they still knew nothing. With the Shadow World growing more and more dangerous, soon they wouldn't be able to save whomever was thrown inside. And yet, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of uneasiness in him. Like comforting their strongest suspect out in the open couldn't be a sensible choice.

He was ripped away from his thoughts by a buzzing in his pocket, as his phone's ringtone began to sound. Quickly trading a look with Riko, he took it from his pocket:

"It's Yukino."

"Oh..." A mischievous smile grew on Riko's face, "Take the call, then. I'll try and not listen to it."

He didn't understand what she was on about, yet he still accepted the advice and took the call:

"Yukino, hey."

 _"_ _Daisuke, oh God, where are you?"_ her tone caught him by surprise. She seemed agitated, scared even.

"Where am I?" he repeated, confused, "I'm next to the Ice Cream parlour. Riko's with me. What happened? Are you alright?"

Riko's phone started vibrating as well. Noticing Daisuke's concerned expression, she hurriedly took her phone out, showing her friend that it was Tatsuya who was calling her, before answering herself. Something was wrong.

 _"_ _I'm fine. Can you see the news somewhere? It's urgent, tell Rikocchi to watch them too."_

"I can't, there's no TV next to me," he looked to Riko again, from her expression, it seemed like Tatsuya's call also wasn't a simple friendly call, "Yuuki, please, tell me what happened."

 _"_ _He killed again!"_

He felt his heart sink, his head lighten. He hadn't heard it well. There was no way. There hadn't been any Dead Phone Watches since Maki's. There hadn't even been rain. It was impossible. He looked at his free hand: it was shaking. Was he... afraid?

"How?" he finally said, after a moment of silence, "Where?"

 _"_ _I don't know! I just turned on the TV and they are live from in front of the hospital."_

 _Aunt Saeko!_  
He got up from the chair immediately, picking up the box where his new sword was hidden, starting to walk as fast as he could without outright running towards the east side of town where the hospital was located.

"Did they say who the victim was?" He asked, not slowing down for Riko who was caught by surprise with how quickly he left the table, "Is it… Is it my aunt?"

 _"_ _No, it's a girl, a student,"_ Yukino said on the other end of the line. He felt some immediate relief, even if he was still on edge, _"They didn't say her name… Are you going there now?"_

"Of course!" he said, "I need to see it with my own eyes."

 _"_ _I'll meet you there,"_ she responded immediately, " _I'll warn Ryoji-kun and Maki-chan too,"_ she took a small pause just about as he was beginning to shift into a run as he turned a corner into a residential area, _"Daicchi, please. Be careful."_

She ended the call, and he pushed the pace again, as Riko running behind him tried her best to keep up with his long strides. When the hospital appeared on the horizon, so too did a crowd of people stopped in front of it. The local news van was there as expected, as the reporter and her cameramen tried to get inside the perimeter that the police had set up inside yellow and black striped tape. Daisuke tried to push through the crowd, approaching the security tape, looking for the body. He found an ambulance, police cars and police officers, but he couldn't find the body.

As he looked closer he could identify the unmistakable silhouette of Asuka Kuronuma in her dark suit. She held a small notebook on her left hand, her right on her pocket. It was by following her gaze that Daisuke finally found what he was looking for: Firefighters trying to dislodge the half-burnt body of a young woman that was hanging from the telephone line, exactly like Mayoi Yumeno's had been. What shocked him the most was that it wasn't just any girl, it was someone he knew. He felt his stomach churn and the feeling of puking rising up. The reddish-brown hair, the copper eyes staring blankly into the void. Even after death, he recognized her immediately: The Student Council President, the girl that had been following him. Satsuki Toriumi was dead.

He almost jumped when Riko touched him on the back, panting as she arrived. He wanted to shield her eyes from the revolting sight, but she was quick in spotting the corpse, placing both hands in front of her mouth in shock.

Daisuke closed his free hand in anger, becoming angrier still at how he couldn't let out his frustrations without generating unwanted attention. Grabbing Riko's arm to pull her with him, he began retreating away from the tape, before Asuka or another officer recognized him standing in the crowd of onlookers.

"Let's go," he said in a low voice so only Riko could hear him, "Let's meet up with the others."

Riko nodded, but she still kept shooting looks over her shoulder to the murder scene, as the firefighters were now able to finally let the body off the phone line, lowering it down.

Toriumi was dead. She who had been so proactive in keeping other students hopeful even after the tragedy that was the loss of her close friend, had now met the same fate. And on a selfish note, Daisuke knew what Toriumi's ultimate fate also meant: The girl had been spying on him on Asuka's orders. Her death would pin the suspicions back on him.

"So it seems the game has changed now."

Shiro crossed his arms deep in thought, the first one to talk after a long period of uncomfortable silence. LuckyLand wouldn't have been the best place to hold an urgent meeting, with all the people around, so they had used Daisuke's house as a secondary meeting place. With Saeko still at the hospital, being questioned along with the rest of the staff, she wouldn't be returning home soon.

The general mood was one of impotent rage, fear and utter defeat. After doing so well with saving everyone thrown into the Shadow World since Yumeno's death, now another person had died and they had been none the wiser. Daisuke punched the wall that he leaned against: They had been so close, and now everything had turned for the worse.

"I still can't believe what I saw," Riko said, holding her head in her hands, leaning forward on the couch, Yukino, by her side, giving her an encouraging pat on the back, "She was dead. Right in front of us."

"Was she… Can we be sure if it's the same killer?" Ryoji asked, sitting by the table in a pillow, "I know it's hard to imagine, but… Maybe this is a separate murder case."

"Dude, one mass murderer loose in bloody Morioh is already unlikely enough, you think there's two?" Tatsuya rebutted, "Nah, it's the same guy. It's gotta be."

"Tatsuya's right," Daisuke corroborated, his tone dark and foreboding, "I saw both bodies. It was the same exact crime scene."

"Poor Toriumi-senpai…" Maki said, clutching Garm harder, her eyes glistening with tears, "She was so nice, why would someone do such a thing?"

Nobody had an answer. Yumeno and Toriumi had both been murdered, but they had no clue why. The pattern of targeting Budoga students had remained consistent, but they still had no clear reason as to why the killer targeted them. Or even what his general motivation was. Was he just a raving madman that killed because he could? If so, would he truly go to those lengths with planning? Or was he working towards some macabre objective? Or maybe he did it purely because he enjoyed the feeling of killing, like how Daisuke enjoyed fighting. He felt an uncomfortable weight on his chest as he thought of it.

"What if it's Sakakibara?" Tatsuya suggested.

"Tatsuya this isn't a time for jokes!" Riko shouted immediately, her voice cracking.

"I'm not joking!" he lifted his open hands, "But think about it! Who were the targets? All of them were students. And he hates students to death. Yeah I know that's forced, but we can't just ignore the possibility."

"But how could he survive inside the Shadow World, senpai?" Ryoji asked, scratching his head, "He doesn't really look like someone that could outrun a Shadow or something. How would he be able to trap people in there?"

"Maybe he doesn't have to?" Yukino suggested, even if she also didn't seem too convinced, "I mean, technically the killer can just use his own phone to do it, right? Isn't it possible he never entered there?"

"It's impossible," Garm corrected her, still sitting on Maki's lap, "I felt the killer's presence on the day the first girl died. That and your gateway will throw people in the vicinity into the Shadow World, but invariably, the person who activated it will also always enter it. It's not possible to escape it."

"It's not a completely foolish theory in truth," Shiro admitted, head leaning to the side, "But I think all of you know who the most likely subject is."

"Akaashi," Daisuke said, stepping away from the wall.

"Exactly," Shiro nodded, looking at him, "It seems he has successfully killed two birds with one stone."

"What do you mean?" Yukino asked.

"Well, Toriumi was quite close to Yumeno. Seemingly, she also knew Akaashi personally," the soft-spoken boy answered, "While Toriumi did end up following Daisuke under instructions from my sister, I can assume that she must have also have been keeping an eye on Akaashi. Taking into account how she knew him, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that maybe she noticed strange behaviours on him. Particularly since, according to Daisuke himself, it seemed like Akaashi was also making his own counter-vigilance. If I'm right, he could've killed her so she wouldn't get too close to the truth. But, in doing so, he also makes Daisuke, the one whom Toriumi was spying on, suspicious. It's sickening, but it may very well be true."

"So he killed her so Asuka-san would think Daisuke-senpai did it?" Ryoji looked lost, not just in trying to follow Shiro's explanation, but even in understanding how someone could act like that, "Toriumi-senpai was his friend right? How could he kill his friends? That's not human."

"There are no limits to humanity's depravity. That, and an animal is at it's most dangerous in it's cornered," Shiro said grimly, looking away, "Yumeno was also his friend apparently. We are still unsure of his motivation, but this death seems to point in one direction only."

"That's all well and good," Tatsuya said after a moment of consideration, "But all of what you're saying is just based on what you suppose is true."

"These are logical deductions," Shiro countered.

"Whatever! We still have no evidence. We have zero proof he did it," the blond rebuffed, standing up, "Akaashi did it! Akaashi did it! You've been parroting this shit for the last month, but so far, we have nothing!"

"Tatsuya," Daisuke called.

"Don't 'Tatsuya' me, Daisuke!" he replied, angrily. His eyes burned with a passion that was seldom seen on him, "We've been like this for months now! Someone else died! What's next? My parents? Riko? You? All of us? We can't just keep sitting here on our hands waiting for Akaashi or whomever that bastard is to show up at our doorstep with a knife!"

Tatsuya stood still for a bit, his hands firmly closed as he looked at the ground. Riko had made an attempt to stand up, but Yukino had held her on the sofa next to her, as Tatsuya sighed, sitting back down. In truth, Daisuke couldn't help but understand his frustration. They had been looking into their suspect for a long time now, and yet they had not made any progress on their investigation. In fact, it seemed that said investigation had led to the opposite effect, with Akaashi becoming aware of them and changing his methods to counter them. The result of their poor planning and lack of action had led to another dead body on their conscience. They were complete and utter failures.

"I apologize," Shiro broke the silence, looking down, hand in his chest, "You're right in what you say. I have imposed on you my personal deductions and theories, but I haven't really done much to prove them. My lack of tact has led to this. I'm responsible for Satsuki Toriumi's death."

"You weren't the one who followed him around like an idiot," Daisuke retorted, nails digging into his crossed arms, frustration and self-revulsion taking him, "I'm just as bad as you, if not worse. If I wasn't so obvious in my search for him, he wouldn't have panicked and killed her."

"Daisuke-senpai, Shiro-senpai, don't say those things!" Maki's sudden outburtst had caught all the others by surprise. It wasn't common for her to talk in anything more than a whisper, yet she had not shrunken down. Her eyes were teary and her lip was quivering, but she looked at both of them with fervour. Even Garm on her lap seemed shocked. She looked down, avoiding their gaze, "When you saved me, you kept telling me that it wasn't my fault. That I should stop blaming myself for every bad thing. I took your advice to heart. I'm stronger now, thanks to you. So, please! Please don't just throw it all away by acting like me when I was scared!"

"Maki's right," Ryoji nodded, assuming a more straight posture, "We can still catch him right? We might not be able to save Yumeno-senpai and Toriumi-senpai. We're too late for that. But we can still avenge them and not let that maniac hurt any more people! If we give up now, he wins!"

Daisuke looked at both of them speechless. Ryoji had never been a particularly vocal person, always just going along with Tatsuya's schemes and focusing on his art, yet it wasn't completely out of his character for him to try and cheer the others. Maki, however, who was always the shyest and more introverted of the group to step out of her comfort zone and try and snap her upperclassmen out of their depressive state was like a slap in the face. He felt shame take him over. What was he doing?

"Please, senpai," Maki's voice had become lower again, but she looked at Daisuke, "We can still help."

Daisuke looked at Shiro, trading a look with the boy as they, without words, decided on the same thing. Reaching for his pockets, he took out his glasses, looking at them, before finally, looking around the room, and then to Maki:

"You're right, both of you" he said, looking at Ryoji then, "I didn't come here to be sorry for myself, but to become a better person. And if I'm planning on doing that, then I can't just give up now," he looked to Yukino and then around the room again, "Let's do it then. Let's not their deaths be in vain!"

"That's what I'm talking about!" Tatsuya said as he, along with everyone else, left their seats, "Let's make that bastard pay!"

"Where are we going, though?" Riko inquired, "Are we going to search for his house?"

"No," Daisuke shook his head, "We need to find out how Toriumi died first. If he changed his methods, we need to know how he did it. And if we do that, maybe we can get the proof we need."

"Agreed," Shiro said, "We need to go to the crime scene then: the hospital. Or, better yet, what has taken the shape of the hospital in the Shadow World."

As the team made their way out of the house, Garm leading the line next to Tatsuya, Daisuke was left alone in the room. Taking his new sword from the box, he unsheathed the blade spinning it around, cutting the air a few times, as he imagined Akaashi in front of him.

"Daicchi?"

Yukino's head popped from the door, as she returned into the room:

"You okay?"

"Yeah", he nodded, "Let's go."


	28. Ch28: Spirals

**Spirals**

As the red light subsided, the Shadow World unveiled itself to them once again. Morioh was clearly not safe any longer, not especially after a second murder, yet still, every time they shifted into that nightmarish dimension, it was hard not to feel an intense desire to warp right back to the "real world".

They had entered from their usual gateway, next to the Owson convenience store. The fog came flooding in immediately, choking them and making it harder to see. Even if they had already entered the Shadow World with their glasses in place, it was hard to shake the growing feeling that the fog had become denser and more impenetrable every time they had returned there. To add to the hellish visage of the dark, foggy streets, the strange red vein-like roots that had been spread across the floors and walls when they had entered the last time were even more present this time, to the point where most of the floor was covered in those thin red tubes. A closer look showed that some sort of glowing liquid was being pumped under their feet, using those red tendrils as pipes. It wasn't hard to trace a comparison between those things and a giant circulatory system, pumping blood across the city.

Garm had no answer when last they had asked him about the veins and the thicker, denser fog, and from that day until then, he still had not come up with any explanation as to what those tendrils were. If nothing else, they were a grim reminder that they could never be too sure what to expect in that god-forsaken place. If Garm, who had lived there his whole life didn't understand, then they had no hope to.

Confirming that all of them were ready, Daisuke took the head of the group as usual, beginning to walk forward. Their destination was the hospital, as such, they would have to travel towards the east side of town, which meant that they would also have to pass through more open streets before they reached their destination; They would have to redouble their efforts in order to not be spotted or engage in a fight with any wandering Shadow. The thin, barely visible, but still very much real scar on Daisuke's left arm reminded him how they shouldn't take the common Shadows lightly. The way how his glass sword had completely shattered during that fight, leaving him vulnerable, still haunted his thoughts from time to time.

As they walked, occasionally they had to take a detour through a side-street, or to turn back and find a different route, trying to avoid groups of patrolling Shadows. Husks and Biters were nearly ever-present, however, among them were also new varieties of Shadows that they had not seen before. Since the wandering Shadows were a representation of the collective unconscious of the town, Daisuke couldn't help but wonder if the appearance of more and more terrifying Shadows was due to the uncertainty that was gripping the town harder, as the killer remained free and still active. They were representations of the town's collective fear.

"Hey, Daisuke," Tatsuya called, stopping his march. As Daisuke and the others stopped to look back at him, he used his right hand to point around, "Do you know where we are?"

"Do I know?" Daisuke asked, walking back to his side, "Somewhere on the west side, I think. Aren't we going to right way?"

"That's what _I_ wanted to know," Tatsuya replied, eyebrow raised, as he continued to move his gaze across the street, "I think we're going around in circles. Something feels off."

"Now that you mention it…" Ryoji leaned against his spear using both hands, "I have a feeling that we've passed through here before."

Daisuke scratched his chin, thinking. In truth, he had for a few minutes now been wondering where exactly they would be in the real town. The denser fog, the darkness and the veins ubiquitously covering the entire cityscape, made it harder and harder to ascertain where exactly they were or even to have a general idea of it. They were standing in a crossroads, with a street stretching in front of them and behind them, but also with one to their left. With the current lack of visibility, it was hard to determine where exactly they should be heading, as every street looked the same. It wasn't too much of a stretch to entertain the idea that perhaps they had in fact looped around at some point too.

"Garm-chan, can't you use your tracking ability?" Riko suggested, looking down at the dog who stood by Daisuke's feet.

"I don't know what I should be tracking, Strength-san," Garm admitted, "And… even if I did, I don't think I could. Last time, when we were trying to find Justice-chan, I barely was able to track her, and that was after using a lot of my power."

"And that attracted the Shadows in the area to us too," Tatsuya recalled, not hiding his frustration at their situation, "We need to find some way to mark where we've been or something. Ryo, can't you like, draw an X on the floor or something?"

"I can try, but I'm not sure if it won't disappear once me and Wanderer are too far away," Ryoji passed a hand through his hair, pulling his fringe from in front of his eyes, "But if you think it's worth a try, I can do it."

"I… I think I can help."

The others all turned to look at the owner of the barely audible voice: Maki, who stood at the back of the group. As the others all looked at her, it looked like she was ready to jump behind Riko, to use her as a shield, yet she stood her ground.

"Oh yes, Maki-san's Stand is a scouting type, is it not?" Shiro said, unfolding his arms, "Perhaps she can perform her own version of Garm-san's tracking ability."

"Yeah," Maki nodded, seemingly thankful that Shiro had caught her intentions and explained them for her, "I didn't have the chance to use Delilah's abilities before. But I'm sure that she can help us find our way."

"Garm, do you think using her Stand will attract Shadows?" Daisuke asked the dog, after deliberating in silence for a moment.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, lowering his ears, "But seeing as how Delilah is a scouting stand by design, it's possible that her abilities don't cause the same energy beacon that my own tracking does. I say, better to give it a shot."

"Ok then," Daisuke acknowledged Garm's advice and looked back to the bespectacled girl, "If something happens, we'll protect you. Go ahead."

Maki's look was of someone who regretted ever having talked, yet, after taking another sweeping look at the others, she nodded, and joined her hands together in front of her chest:

"Delilah."

In response to her plea, her Stand emerged from her, not in a gulf of blue flames like the others, but with a warm, pleasant light that surrounded the metallic figure. The pink, lightning like energy that emitted from the gaps in the Stand's armour combined with the blue summoning aura, casted a warm, pleasant purple light around them.

Maki then moved her hands forward, and the Stand made glowing pink screens appear at her fingertips, very much like the ones that the group had found spread across Maki's dungeon. Moving her hands, Maki shifted the screens around, like they were on a surface, and pinching one of them, she moved her fingers to expand it, so it was visible to the others as well.

"That's… a dot?" Tatsuya said, tilting his head to get a better look.

"It's our position," Maki replied. Her voice had a sort of reverb to it, like she was speaking to them from an empty room, "Delilah is scouting the area to create a map."

Daisuke looked away from the screen and back to the Stand that hovered just behind Maki: it had its arms spread to the sides, and its face turned up to look at the sky. A humming sound came from the Stand, as well as what appeared to be a ring of light that pulsed at small intervals, traveling a few metres before disappearing again.

Back on the screen, circular waves burst forth from the blinking dot in the middle, and as they did, slowly more detail was being shown around it, detailing the street they were on, as well as the streets adjacent to it. More dots had popped up next to the original one that were grouped exactly like the places where Maki's companions were standing. However, what drew Daisuke's eyes were the red dots that seemed to be moving closer to them coming from in front of them. He had already gripped his sword and stepped forward before Maki had talked:

"Shadows ahead of us!"

Husks appeared from the corner of the street, charging at them with their long bulky arms stomping the cracked and vein-filled floor. Daisuke had leapt to meet the first of the Husks, gripping his sword with both hands and delivering a powerful sweeping cut ahead of him, the shadow being torn apart, turning into smoke and sparks, as Daisuke landed on the ground, on one knee. Old Sakura-san had not lied about the black blade's extremely sharp edge. As he returned to his feet, he saw as more Husks passed by him and rushed to meet his companions: Shiro's sabre cut down the first one, Yukino's axe split open the second one. The remaining Husks ahead of them had stopped their advance, seeing as their brethren had been so quickly dispatched. Regrouping, they took a few steps backward, their masks beginning to shake in place. Their screeches echoing through the street.

"Watch out!" Garm shouted, jumping up, "They're going to transform!"

"Starsailor!"

Tatsuya's Stand flew past Daisuke, moving its right arm like a baseball pitcher, throwing an orb of purple and black energy towards the middle of the trio of Shadows. Just as the ball of energy reached the middle of the pack, it exploded loudly, pushing the Shadows away from each other and against the walls, bursting the vein-roots on the walls and ground, making a bright pink liquid gush from them, spreading a mess around, as the shadows groaned and screeched, revolving around themselves, their fusion stopped. Their bodies seemed to be under some sort of video glitch, as parts of their body would just randomly expand or retract, the masks violently rumbling.

"Kill them before they can recover!" Daisuke ordered, sprinting forward towards the Shadow that was the farthest away.

He jumped again, holding his sword downwards, stabbing the revolute Shadow with his dark blade straight through its mask, cracking it in two. The Shadow screamed in agony, louder than he had ever heard one shout, as it transformed into smoke and ash, being swept away by a wind that only carried them. The grim choir had two more voices added to it, as behind him he saw as his fellow frontline fighters, Yukino and Shiro, had also proceeded to executing the remaining Shadows, sabre and axe descending on the agonizing creatures.

"Maki, are there more coming?" Daisuke shouted, looking back, recovering from his kneeling position.

"I… No, there aren't," she shook her head for a moment. The sudden fight had caught her by surprise, "There are more nearby, but I don't think they've found us yet."

"Let's hope it stays that way," Daisuke sighed, walking back towards the others. Wiping away the dark remains and the pink liquid from his sword, "Good job, Yukino, Shiro. You too, Tatsuya."

"What do you mean 'you too, Tatsuta'?" the blond boy said grinning, "If it wasn't for me, we'd have to fight another giant one."

"I hate to admit it, but indeed, Magician was crucial," Garm noted, with raised ears, "We now know that it's possible to stop a fusion."

"Told ya," Tatsuya laid the blunt side of his knife on his shoulder.

"The screams when they died were terrifying, though," Riko voiced, pulling back the chain on her kusarigama to lock it on her belt, "I've never heard them scream like that."

"I may have a theory," Shiro stood next to the dispersing remains of the Shadow he had just killed, "If Shadows represent humanity's, or at least, the town's dark inner self, perhaps by attempting a fusion, they are not only joining together their physical bodies, but also their collective self. They lose their individuality and their inner fears, joining together as one entity, free of self-repression. They become some sort of hive mind. Does that seem likely, Garm-san?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm… I'm not really sure," the canine admitted, "I've already told you that I am also seeing a lot of this phenomena for the first time. But… Yes, I guess that does make some sense."

"Hey, guys…?"

The conversing group all turned to look at the voice that had called them. Ryoji stood next to Maki, pointing at the screen, urging the others to come see it. As requested of them, they moved closer to the two first-years, looking at the Stand-made screen. The map that had only covered a few streets near them before, now occupied a much larger area, a complex set of streets and alleyways all connected to each other. Red dots representing Shadows were spread all around the map, as expected, some of them were also larger than others, probably an indication of the real size of the Shadow, or perhaps its actual power. However, what drew Daisuke's attention was the layout of the streets: They no longer seemed to be following a one-to-one conversion of the town on the other side, instead, streets now seemed to just stop at random sites, whilst others were now curving. The town's alleyways looked like they were forming a complex, spiralling pattern. He wasn't sure why, but he felt a sudden dread.

"Is that the real layout of the town?" Shiro asked Maki.

"Yes, I feel it," Maki nodded, still looking at the map, "Delilah's sensors are correct."

"What the hell is happening to this place…?" Tatsuya let out, more to himself than to the others.

"Maki-chan, do you know where the Hospital is now?" Yukino asked her.

"Yes, it's in the same general site as in the real town," she explained, using her hands to drag the map across the floating screen, "It's this building over here."

"That's… That's a lot of Shadows," Riko commented, looking at the red dots in and around the large rectangle that Maki was pointing at.

"That means it's probably the right place for us to look into," Daisuke concluded. He looked at Maki again, "Can you guide us there?"

The girl nodded, adjusting her glasses quickly and then moving her hands to make the screen shrink tremendously until it fit just in her palm, whilst her Stand's main body disappeared. Instead, a mechanical orb floated with pink energy next to Maki's shoulder, keeping pace with her as she began to walk, the others following behind her.

With Maki leading the way, following the map her Stand had created, they restarted their advance. This time, with the first year girl's guidance, they managed to break out of the spiral that they had become trapped in. The corridors that they walked through still looked very similar to each other, with red pulsing veins and rust covering the stone and cement of the floors and walls. As they could now know where Shadows were before they could even see them, picking the path forward was far simpler. Eventually they managed to leave the eastern residential area, and into the main streets, but with the way the fog was spreading it was hard to even tell the difference, besides the lack of the more enclosed walls.

"Shadows in front, a few meters away," Maki said, stopping, "The western block is also very… hum… spirally?"

"How many?" Daisuke asked, looking over the girl's shoulder to check the map.

"Five, I think," she answered. She used her fingers to enlarge the section of the map where they were, "One of them is bigger than the rest."

"Weapons ready," Daisuke said then, putting himself ahead of Maki and walking forward.

A few more steps and the figures finally appeared from the fog. There they stood, apparently guarding the entrance to another cramped alleyway. Daisuke had imagined the enemies awaiting them to be Husks and perhaps the mess of arms that they fought before, that Yukino had named the Hydrarms. However, they found something completely different: The four smaller shadows were quadrupeds, being similar in frame to famished emaciated wolves. Their bodies were not covered in fur however, but in what seemed to be bark and leaves. Instead of a common canine head, a red rose bloomed from their neck, with sharp teeth lining the edges of the petals. A blood-red theatre mask was stuck to their back.

More concerning, however, was the largest of the entities: Towering over not only the rose-wolf hybrids, but also over even the tallest of humans, was a very thin, gaunt figure that, like its smaller brethren, also had its body covered in bark and leaves. It was vaguely humanoid, with feet similar to long roots, and extremely long arms that ended in four sharp claw-like branches. A cloak of leaves and flowers fell from its shoulders, covering most of its chest. The head was a mess of knots, leaves and flowers, seemingly with no real symmetry, as even the horns that sprouted from the top of it had one of the much longer than the other. The light pink theatre mask was squarely in its chest, keeping the cloak of leaves in place.

"What the fuck…?" Tatsuya mumbled as the figures appeared from the fog, "Is that a human-tree?"

"Yukino." Daisuke called.

"I'm thinking Rosehowls and Sycalorde," she said, looking at him leaning her head. Changing into an embarrassed expression for a millisecond, before switching to a more serious one as she saw his face, "Oh, that's not what you wanted."

"No, it's not," for a second, he almost laughed, but managed to catch himself in time. He was still impressed with how her pun-making skills were always sharp, despite it all, "Arabella's fire may be our best weapon against them. Take point, we'll cover you."

"They saw us!" Ryoji announced, clutching his spear tighter, "Hurry!"

The large tree-man like Shadow had raised its hand, pointing towards them, emitting a loud groan like sound that urged the plant wolves to rush forward towards them, darting in a serpentine pattern. Quickly, Yukino and Daisuke switched places, as they ran to meet their opponents.

"You take the big one!" Daisuke shouted at her, "We'll kill the small fry!"

Yukino nodded, sidestepping to avoid a charging Rosehowl as Daisuke passed behind her, to meet the creature, swinging his sword and hitting its flower-like head, sending red petals into the air as the creature recoiled back onto its feet. With his peripheral vision, he could see Shiro appear at his right, pushing back his own target. To his left he saw as Riko and Ryoji both took their own targets, Riko's kusarigama chain forcing her enemy to back away, Ryoji's spear poking back his mutt. Tatsuya and Garm had stayed behind, next to Maki, comprising the rear guard, Maki had no means to defend herself, so someone should stay behind to protect their guide.

Yukino grasped her axe with both hands, but didn't get a chance to swing as she had to jump to the side to avoid a powerful slamming attack by the tree-human, whose arm-like branches could stretch forward without warning, its claws barely missing her. She had to dodge once again as the Sycalorde swung at her again and again. She managed to hit its right arm with a well-timed swing, cutting two of its claws, but it soon swung again, narrowly missing her as she backtracked.

"Help me, Arabella!"

Yukino's body was overtaken by flames as the witch appeared from her, rising to meet the Shadow's arm, stopping it with an explosion of azure flames that made the tree creature cry in pain as it stumbled backwards with its large root-esque feet shaking the ground as it moved.

As the other continued their fight, independent of Yukino's, Daisuke's Rosehowl had turned its tail on him, trying to catch-up to the girl with her back turned. He immediately took off on a run, sword at his side. He moved his left arm forward, as the fires of his soul burned past his body:

"Lazarus!"

The knight in the midnight blue overcoat glided through the fog, a sharp roar echoing through the night air as the claws of glass grasped the body of the bark-made canine pushing it violently against the cracked and vein covered floor. Its left hand gripped the blooming rose head and ripped it in half over its own head. As the smoke and ash filled the air, Daisuke and Lazarus screamed in unison. _I won't let them harm you_.

He looked back, turning his attention away from Yukino and the Sycalorde to the remaining Rosehowls. He had turned for a second only before he saw Shiro drive his sabre through the flower of his direct adversary, spreading petals, smoke and ash around him that stood there for just a moment, as Santigold had emerged calling forth a gust of wind that pulled the particles floating around it as she threw both Riko and Ryoji's Rosehowls upwards. Wanderer's brush shooting forth red paint thinner that hit their targets, corroding the wooden hounds, whose cries and howls ripped through the night. The eroding bodies of the plant-wolves falling on the ground, their ashes combining with the pink blood-like liquid that spurted from the floor where the vein-roots were cut.

Yukino's rage-filled scream made Daisuke turn again. Arabella's hands moved with precision, and callousness, as the Sycalorde's vines and arms were pushed backwards with consecutive sudden explosions of flame. The witch Stand's dark gown flapped in the wind, the dark feathers reflecting being lit up by the magic fire. Despite being constantly pushing and leaving burn marks on the bark, the fire didn't seem capable of spreading towards the Shadow's vitals. Yukino's stamina was rapidly draining however, using her Stand's powers like she was using was massively tiring. She needed help, badly.

"Kill it!" Daisuke shouted with a hoarse voice, spit spraying forth from his mouth, "Kill it dead!"

He had rushed towards her, sliding in place and bringing forth Lazarus, who flew against the Sycalorde's left arm, stopping it in place, holding it away from Yukino. Soon enough, the right arm was held in place by the white and gold figure of Prince. As Yukino had slumped forward a bit from tiredness, soon she found more reinforcements, as Riko and Ryoji had now rushed to either side of her. They now had a chance to attack, and a clear target: the mask.

"Wanderer!" "Santigold!" "Arabella!"

A cry of agony and pain deafened all other sounds as the combined might of the three Stand's attacks hit the large Shadow. The corrosive paint, the wind sharp as a razor and the magic blue flames all violently clashed against the theatre mask, cracking it, burning, destroying it. As the mask fell from its place and devolved into cinders, with it, the large, gaunt body of the Sycalorde gave away, being consumed by a black fire, smoke sprouting forth from the place where its "face" once was, as the creature's body fell to its knees. Ashes only remained of it after a few seconds, and after a few seconds more, even the ashes had been completely obliterated, leaving no trace behind of the creature that moments before had stood there so menancingly.

Daisuke felt his body relax suddenly as he felt the weight of the Shadow disappear, very nearly tripping and falling down; something that almost happened to the clearly spent Yukino, who was only kept on her feet by Riko and Ryoji's support. As Shiro cleaned his blade of remains, he gave a positive nod to the others.

"That…" Yukino said, letting go off the other two, standing on her own, "I'd rather not fight one of those things again. Thanks for the help."

Riko and Ryoji traded smiles of encouragement as they stepped away, letting her walk again. Tatsuya, Garm and Maki approached them, re-joining with them, Tatsuya had his hands behind his head and a large grin:

"So guess that you guys can already fight without the king's help."

"It was a good exercise," Riko responded, moving her head towards him, "Finally we got to fight without 'the king' getting in the way."

Tatsuya gifted her with a sardonic smile that was arguably funnier than the taunt itself.

"We still haven't done anything, focus up," Daisuke reminded the others. He'd rather not have to stop the others from joking, but they didn't have the luxury to stay idle on the Shadow World, "Maki, take the lead."

The girl nodded, recalling the smaller version of her Stand and reopening the map as she began to walk forward, Ryoji and Shiro next to her, and then Tatsuya and Riko, still bickering in a low tone of voice despite it all. As Yukino regained her stamina after using her axe for support, Daisuke passed next to her, patting her on the head with his right hand:

"You're fantastic, Yuuki."

She reddened a bit with the sudden praise, but soon enough responded with a smile of her own, before both of them walked on with the others, through the alleyway.

That street was a lot more enclosed than the others they had been in before, being a lot tighter and darker, to the point where they were forced to walk at most with only two people side by side. At one point, it got so dark that Maki had to activate a secondary ability of Delilah's, casting a warm light around them, so they could see. There still were tubes all around the walls and floors, but they were very different from the ones outside, those were not the veins, but instead they were roots and vines, spread over the rust and the dry blood. Once they exited the alleyway, the darkness dissipated, as they were once again lit up by the red blood moon, which revealed the large building in front of them: The hospital, covered in thorny red vines, and flowers in bright reds, pinks, white and purples. The double doors were laid on the floor, smashed to pieces over the steps. If that was Satsuki Toriumi's dungeon, someone had clearly been there before.


	29. Ch29: Garden of the Broken

**29 – Garden of the Broken**

Past the broken down doors was naught but wreckage and darkness. The only light came from outside the hospital, the blood red moon's glow only reached a few meters inside that place. As far as they could see, they were inside the hospital's reception, but a highly deteriorated one, with benches and sofas thrown asunder, shelves and magazine racks broken and spread across the cracked floors. There were burn marks all around the wreckage inside the room, some of them, seemed to still be smoking.

The red veins reached the steps at the entrance, but did not continue further than where the moonlight could illuminate. That hinted to Daisuke that changes had occurred in the hospital recently; Otherwise, he thought, the veins should be all over it like they were ubiquitously spread across the whole town.

"I'll illuminate the room," Shiro announced, looking back at his companions.

Daisuke nodded in response, prompting Shiro to take a few steps forward into the darkness. He moved his hands, calling his Stand, but before he even had a chance to be engulfed in the azure summoning fire, a red ring of energy sprung from under his feet, expanding rapidly, covering the floor in a crimson glow until the circle met the walls of the entryway and sprung upwards towards the ceiling: The hospital's entrance was now fully visible within an intense, headache inducing, red light. It reminded Daisuke of a darkroom, where one would reveal photographs, or perhaps a shady nightclub.

"Did you... Did you do that, Shiro-san?" Riko asked, uncertain.

Shiro shook his head no. Under the new found red light, the rest of the hospital became visible. Like the seating, the magazine racks, electronic terminals and television sets all had been in one way or another been misplaced or broken. The inner walls were analogous to the exterior ones, covered in vines and a large variety of flowers: roses, sunflowers, chrysanthemums, orchids and many others Daisuke could not name or even thought were real species outside of the Shadow World. The potted plants that normally occupied the corners of the room had been freed of their containers, as shards of the broken vases were spread around the floor; the plants that had been inside had joined with the ones on the wall, continuing the strange web of unified vines and flowers, as some sort of common organism.

"Was Toriumi-senpai obsessed with flowers or something?" Tatsuya asked, after an extended moment of observation.

"She was on the school's botanist club," Shiro revealed, approaching the closest wall to observe one the inflorescences.

"We have a botanist club?" the blond replied oblivious.

"Yes," Shiro looked back at him and then back to the plant, using the tip of his sabre to touch the inner regions of a sunflower, "They are responsible for maintaining the garden and other plant life within Budoga-Oka."

 _I guess that would explain why her apparent dungeon would have a plant motif,_ Daisuke thought, scratching at his emergent stubble. _But really, would it be something so simple? And more importantly, why would the hospital be her dungeon? Was there perhaps a connection between the plants and the location where they spawned?_

"I found something!" Ryoji shouted from across the room.

The short boy was standing by the receptionist area, using his spear as a crutch. As they reached him, he pointed towards the monitors stuck to the wall. Unlike every other electronic device, these monitors not only had not been destroyed or ripped from their stands, but they were also working. Or at least, they were functional, as they displayed a bunch of white numbers in a reddish-pink background. They weren't stationary however, as they constantly jumped from one number to the next, apparently at random and inconsistently.

"It's like the clock on our phones," Yukino noticed, already having her phone in her hand to justify the comparison.

"Not quite," Shiro noted, pointing, "The clock has four digits. It's clear that it represents time..."

"But the monitors only have three digits each," Daisuke completed after a closer look. "It's not time, it's something else."

"Oh, I know what it is!" Maki had almost jumped in place, making everyone turn towards her immediately, prompting an all too familiar response of sudden awareness. Still, she talked: "It's a room number. The hospital has three upper floors and two underground ones."

"So...?" Tatsuya asked.

"The first digit in the sequence represents the floor number," Shiro explained, already attuned to Maki's idea, "If you look at the screens for a while, notice that the first number doesn't go from zero to nine. It goes from minus two to three."

"So that means we're looking for a particular room?" Riko asked, "I mean. If it didn't mean anything, why would the monitors be the only thing that works in the whole place?"

"The problem is..." Daisuke said, still staring at the screen, "What room is it?"

That, most likely, was the challenge that the dungeon would present to whomever tried to come and rescue Toriumi. If every room in the real hospital had an analogous room in the dungeon, than it wouldn't be hard to imagine that a potential rescuer had to know beforehand or be absurdly lucky to rescue the girl quickly.

They moved away from the receptionist desks, passing through a doorway whose large metal doors had been blasted off their hinges and had crashed through the lift doors on the wall behind them. Staircases were located to the right and left of the destroyed elevator entrances: the left stone steps took them down, the right ones would take them to the upper floors.

"Do you think that Akaashi was the one who destroyed these doors?" Yukino wondered, as she walked cautiously to look at the ruined lifts.

"He wouldn't, right?" Riko awkwardly shifted from standing on her left foot to her right, "I mean, he just brought the people inside. The Shadow killed them. Why would he come here?"

"We don't know if it was the Shadow," Daisuke countered, "Remember that we never saw a Dead Phone Watch this time. Maybe Akaashi killed her himself."

His sombre suggestion made the already alarmed congregation become even more on edge. Surely all of them had already equated that possibility, but to actually discuss it was a lot grimmer. If that was the case, Akaashi, or whomever it was, had no longer just left people to die. He was now motivated enough to kill with his own hands and was a lot more dangerous. Daisuke gripped his sword harder, till his knuckles turned bone white: he wouldn't let Akaashi kill any of his friends. He'd stop him even if he died in the process.

"Maki-san," Shiro called, breaking the deadly silence, "Can you use Delilah's abilities to scan the building?"

"I tried," she admitted, pulling on her sleeves, "But there seems to be some interference that stops me from using the radar ping. Delilah can make her own map of rooms where we've been, but not auto-complete the hospital map."

"Dungeons are teeming with the presence of Shadows and their energy," Garm noted, as always, standing by Maki's feet, "The more acute that presence is, the more it affects tracking."

"Guess we have to do this the hard way then," Daisuke said, "We have to check every door."

"If so, let's hasten the procedure," Shiro suggested, "Let's split up into two groups. One goes to the upper floors, one goes to the lower ones."

The reaction was a negative one. Shadows had grown strong enough that they were starting to require the whole squad's combined strength to defeat them. Splitting them didn't seem like the most cautious approach. However, like Shiro was quick to point out, if they didn't split up, the search would be a lot longer and would potentially leave them in more danger, as their energy was slowly sapped. Maki's reveal that Delilah could make it so she could monitor and speak to other members of the group at a distance was the final confirmation needed to go with that plan.

"I'll take the lower levels then," Daisuke said after their continued deliberation, "Tatsuya, you take the upper floors."

"Sounds good," Tatsuya nodded. Even despite the dangerous situation they were in, Tatsuya seemed pleased that he had received the nod to be the leader of the second squad.

"I'll go with you," Yukino said, walking over to where Daisuke was.

"I don't believe that would be for the best," Shiro rebuffed, storing his sword in the sheath that hung from his belt, "We should base our teams on having the best balance possible between our powers."

"You suggest that we make teams with specific roles then?" Daisuke asked.

"Indeed. I believe that we have essentially four types of powers among us: Close-ranged and Long-Range Attackers, Utility and Tracking," Shiro explained, raising four fingers on his left hand, holding onto one finger every time he talked about a bullet point, "You and me both fulfil the role of close-range attackers, however, Lazarus has more defensive options compared to Prince. As such, of the two long-range fighters, Riko-san and Yukino-san, I believe that Arabella's healing is more useful with me. And since Tatsuya-san has our utility Stand…"

"Then I should go with Daisuke's team," Riko completed.

"Yes," Shiro nodded, "Lazarus is capable of producing walls, as such, Garm-san's blocking ability is better suited to us."

"So me and Maki are with Daisuke-senpai," Ryoji said. From Maki's expression next to him, it was clear that she was relieved that she would get to stick together with her fellow first-year.

Two teams were formed then: Daisuke, Riko, Maki and Ryoji would search the depths of the lower floors; Tatsuya, Shiro, Yukino and Garm would look for clues on the upper levels. They still took a few moments to split, as, despite them knowing how pressing the timing was and how much they needed to get moving, it was still hard to convince themselves to shorten their numbers. Finally, Daisuke approached the steps, and his team reluctantly followed him, starting to descend the staircase, whilst on the other side, Tatsuya's squad began to climb their own steps. As Daisuke still stood on the top step, he looked back to see Yukino still staring at him. She mouthed " _Be careful_ ", to which he nodded in response, before following his companions into the depths.

After two flights of stairs, the red lighting giving progressively way to darkness as they descended, they arrived at floor minus one. Like what had happened before, as soon as Riko, the one in front, took a few steps into the dark corridor, a ring of red light sprung from her feet and expanded across the corridor. In just a few seconds, the area was lit in the same crimson shade as the ground floor. The new light source revealed a large hallway ahead of them, metallic doors stretching to the left and to the right of them. Small plaques were placed on the doors, where room numbers were engraved. Looking ahead, the corridor would fork into three other paths: a continuation of the current one, one to the left and one to the right. Much like the rest of what they had seen in the hospital, the vines, leaves and flowers covered walls and floors.

Daisuke passed by Riko and approached the first of the doors, on his right hand side. He tried to push down on the door handle, but found the door locked. He then tried to force it open by alternatively pushing and pulling on it, but to no avail.

"Guess that's probably not what we're looking for," Riko said. As Daisuke violently kicked the door down, she shrugged, "Or not."

Daisuke peered inside, past the frame of the door he had just displaced, finding on the other side a square room that, were it not for the plants on the walls, looked like it would've been perfectly normal in the real hospital: a single bed with disposable sheets was against the wall, with machines and an IV drip next to it. Two chairs for visitors and a sink, which constantly dripped a liquid that was hard to identify, completed the room.

Of note, however, was that they were not alone in the room. At first Daisuke assumed it was a Shadow, but a second glance revealed that what he was seeing laying on the bed was actually a phantasmagorical apparition, one of those that Garm had named "cognitions" when they encountered them on Ryoji's museum dungeon. The phantom had a frail body, with no hair and no face, its skin was coloured a pale violet, under the red light, and was semi translucent, to the point where they could see the thin mattress underneath the figure. Even if it had no mouth, it seemed to be talking. Not loud enough for them to discern what it was saying, but something like a continuous, almost mad whisper. Rhythmical and yet also completely devoid of it.

Daisuke took a step inside, intent on hearing what the phantom was actually saying, when the apparition stopped talking completely. Daisuke felt a cold sweat, as the phantom moved its head towards him, inexistent eyes staring at him and through him. One second, two seconds, three seconds passed, and then, the apparition let out a shrill, blood-draining scream that caught him by complete surprise, making him raise his hands to his ears. He heard the cries of his friends behind him as they tried to shut their ears off to no avail, as the cries of the cognition-patient rung violently against their skull, as it started to convulse and twist on the bed. Instinctively, Daisuke gripped his sword, taking a step further into the room and, with both hands on the sword hilt, driving the dark blade through the chest of the screaming, lying figure. As the blade was driven through its spectral heart, it stopped its screaming. The phantasm's body disappearing as if it had never existed there in the first place, the tip of the blade plunging into the now unoccupied mattress. In response to the death of the patient, the plant life inside the room began to wither away at a staggering pace, leaves senescing and falling quickly on the ground before burning away, as the flowers rotted, the petals disintegrating.

He didn't have to look to his companions to know how they had reacted. Even if in a cold, emotionless vacuum they would probably be able to judge Daisuke's quick decision to stab the phantom as a correct assumption on his part, one couldn't just dissociate the image of him coldly executing a figure screaming in pain on a hospital bed. He cursed himself mentally by not hearing Riko's advice to ignore the locked door. They stood motionless halfway between the room and the corridor, waiting, perhaps, to hear the sounds of Shadows marching in, attracted by the scream, but no such thing happened.

"I'll mark locked doors on the map," Maki informed the others as they returned to the corridor, her tone betraying her shaken state.

Daisuke curtly nodded. If Toriumi had been kept in one of those rooms, it would've most likely have been open or the door knocked down like the doors that lead to the stairs on the ground floor. It was a ridiculous assumption on his part that they should try to break down every locked door before even checking the ones that were unlocked.

It was then that a thought occurred to Daisuke: all three of the dungeons they had visited, Yukino's, Ryoji's and Maki's, had come crumbling down after their leading Shadows had been defeated and assimilated into the Stands of their former prisoners. If Akaashi had murdered Toriumi, then shouldn't her dungeon be in ruins as well? What would exactly happen to a Shadow if its original self died before confronting it? Would the dungeon continue on, slowly degrading as a normal building in the real world would? He noted that he should ask Garm about it when they met back with him again. Then again, he was expecting that the canine would produce the same inconclusive answers that were now so frustratingly common coming from him.

They then began to explore the rest of the corridors, going from door to door, checking which of them were open or locked. Contributing to the already bad mood, all of the doors they checked along the main corridor, be those patient rooms, or operating rooms, proved to either closed or led to completely empty rooms with nothing out of the ordinary among them. Ryoji had suggested adding or doing some sort of equation featuring the numbers on the doors of the open empty rooms, but no conclusions came from it. Be it on the rooms or on walkways, there didn't even appear to be signs of struggles.

"Maybe senpai was being held in one of the upper floors?" Ryoji then suggested after he tried to open one more door to no avail.

"Or on the floor below us," Riko opined, "It would make more sense for her to be on the top floor or on the bottom one, right?"

"Right," Daisuke nodded in response. In truth, he had been equating that to be the most likely scenario for a few minutes now, "Maki, can you contact the others to see how they're doing?"

The girl nodded. The small orb floating on her shoulder shone brighter then, and began to grow until it assumed the full humanoid form of Delilah. The Stand moved its hands, generating a flat circle that proved to be a small screen. Instead of a map like before, it showed a single line. For a quick second, Daisuke thought it to be a heart monitor, but as Maki talked, the line began to move, showcasing that it was actually a measure of audio:

"Tatsuya-senpai, can you hear me?"

They didn't get a direct response for a brief moment, as they heard just a mess of barely discernible voices on the other side, before finally, Tatsuya's voice, under some distortion, being audible:

 _"_ _Maki-chan? That you?"_

"Yes!" Maki smiled, closing both hands next to her face in celebration, "Did you find anything, senpai? Are you all alright?"

 _"_ _Yeah, we're fine. We ran into some effed up Shadows in here. More plant type bastards,"_ Tatsuya took a break to relay to the others in his group that he was speaking to Maki, _"We handled them, though. Still haven't found anything. The doors are all locked or the rooms are all empty. What about you guys?"_

"Same thing. Locked doors and empty rooms," Maki answered, looking to the others at every stop in her speech. She had omitted what they had found on the one locked room they had entered, "We're going to move to minus two. Riko-senpai thinks it's more likely that's where it should be."

 _"_ _Aye, always a brainiac, Riko-chan is,"_ Tatsuya's playful jab got Riko to redden up, and snort with her arms crossed, _"Right, we'll check the upper floor then. Good luck down there."_

"Good luck, senpai, be careful!"

Delilah cut the transmission off, the circular transmitter she had created moments before vanishing in a small explosion of pixels. The Stand transforming back into its smaller, less energy draining self. With every door checked and no clues found, the group on the lower floors moved back towards the staircases, descending into the negative second floor, the last one. As before, darkness began to swallow them as they carefully descended the steps, one after the other, careful to not trip and fall down. As Daisuke reached the end of the stairs, he heard a metallic sound and felt holes in the floor underneath his feet. On the near complete darkness, it was hard to see, but he could tell that the floor was not made of tiles, but of metal grating. He couldn't tell if the stains on the metal were red purely due to remains of crimson light that reached them from the upper floor, or if they were blood and rust. He took a step forward and then another, expecting to have a ring of red light sprung from his feet, but no such thing happened. It was as dark as it was before.

"Lazarus."

The blue fire rose around him at once. Lazarus's wide frame appearing beside him, the blue aura it cast enough to light a few meters ahead of him, to reveal an enclosed corridor. There were no plants on the walls, or at least, there weren't living plants, as instead what covered the stained walls were the red tendrils like the ones they could find outside.

He had just a brief moment to see it before he could react. A large rusty blade being swung at him with great velocity. He let out a surprised cry as he reacted by instinct, raising his arms in a cross shape in front of his face, Lazarus moving to in front of him. The large blade connected on Lazarus's metallic palms, the glass knight's gauntlets stopping the march of the blade, but the force of the impact was enough to push Daisuke backwards, falling on his back against the steps of the staircase. He felt an intense pain on the palms of his hands, as the barely existing light showed deep cuts where the blade had connected with Lazarus's own hands. Daisuke's blade had been thrown asunder, landing by his feet, the tip of it stuck on one of the holes in the grating.

He heard Riko shouting his name in worry, as she darted to get ahead of him, Santigold emerging from within her, the golden feathers at the tip of the harpy's wings shining brightly as a powerful gust of wind pushed the wielder of the giant rusty blade backwards, sliding across the grated floor, sparks scrapping as metal met metal.

Under Santigold's more intense light, the attacker became fully visible. A large, husky creature, vaguely humanoid, but much more similar to the Oni of folklore, with blood red skin over its large, powerful muscles. Rusty metallic boots covered its feet and shins, over dirty rags with what seemed to be bloodstains. Along the naked flesh of the creature's arms and chest were several poorly closed cuts, with large rusty metallic staples and stitches placed haphazardly. A contraption similar to a muzzle hid the creature's lower face, each of its eyes had been pierced by large nails. The right grotesque hand held onto the blade that had swung at Daisuke that, now that it was visible, he noticed had no hilt: the blade dug deep into the fleshy hands of the monster. The theatre mask, symbol of a Shadow, was on its chest, over where its heart should be.

It roared as it swung the blade again, aiming it at Riko. Daisuke had jumped back up again, placing himself on the path. This time however, he created his own blade of glass, using it to block the attack. He had miscalculated the creature's strength, as the metal blade dug into the glass one, being stopped only halfway into the defensive blade. Daisuke screamed as he summoned his strength, pushing back against the blade, trying to hold it away from his companions.

Riko took the chance, shooting a new blast of powerful winds at the creature, making it topple on its back as a result of it being already off balance by Daisuke's actions. The creature's astounding weight made it so the walls it crashed into caved in, the monster falling inside the room on the other side. Daisuke kneeled forward, feeling his energies spent, his hands red with the blood he kept losing from the cuts on his palms. The Shadow was pushing itself back on its feet.

"Ryoji!" Daisuke shouted back, "What are you doing!? Kill it before it recovers!"

The boy looked terrified, staying back, in front of Maki and with his spear raised. Daisuke's shout had helped retrieve him from his shock. He walked forward, summoning Wanderer. The Painter's large brush traced the air, forming in red paint the kanji for "DELETE", shooting it forward towards the monstrous Shadow. It hit it square on the chest, making the monster roar in pain, as the acid thinner was marked onto its already red skin. Ash drifting from where the attack had hit it. Yet, it still stood. Ryoji shouted, charging with all the bravery he could muster towards the monster, spear clutched in both hands, intent on driving the point of it through the mask. The blade was too heavy for the monster to move it to stop Ryoji, so it tried to swing at him with his free bloated hand. Yet, with the remains of his glass claymore, Lazarus hit the Shadow's arm, stopping its swing. Ryoji roared as the spear penetrated through skin and darkness, cracking the mask as it passed through it. A killing blow. Or so it seemed, because with a guttural growl, the Shadow managed to propel itself forward, throwing Ryoji backwards like a ragdoll, making him hit the wall behind him.

The colossal monstrosity used its still glass incrusted hand to rip the spear out of its chest and toss it to the side, as it approached Ryoji with its sword raised. _I can't let him die. I can't let any of them die. I need them. I need them!_ Daisuke rushed at the giant, throwing his body at it, Lazarus appearing in front of him, pushing the monster back through the ruined wall, making it fall on its back again. Daisuke was tossed through the air with the momentum, rolling on the floor, hitting his back against something hard: medical equipment and machinery. He felt his eyes water from the pain, as he used his forearms to crawl and then try to push himself up to his feet. The monster roared again as it lay on its back, the more it wailed, the more it sounded like the guttural cry of a gigantic swine.

He had regained his footing only barely, clutching onto one of the sickbeds on the room he had crashed into, nearly slipping back down thanks to his bloodied hands. The giant was attempting to once again rise, but a well-timed blast of wind from Riko on the opposite side, saw the monster fall back down, head crashing against the floor. The brunt force of the wind barely avoiding Daisuke who still felt his hair and clothing being harshly disarranged by the force of Santigold's attack. Still, now, the Shadow lay at his mercy, as he moved next to its barrel-like chest.

Lazarus's visage had changed, as its own gauntlets were flooded in blood and its long coat ripped and dirty. Still, as it summoned a great axe in both hands, it no longer mattered how worn out and battered it and its master were. Daisuke passed a bloody hand through his damp hair, as Lazarus's foot held down the head of the Shadow. Claws pushing down between the nailed eyes.

"Execute him."

The blade of the axe fell down on the neck of the Shadow, breaking through the metallic muzzle contraption and lodging itself deep into tissue and muscle of darkness and ash, smoke gushing out in high pressure from the wound, like a fountain of black, vaporous blood. The Shadow began to melt into a poodle of dark sludge and ashes, falling through the holes in the metallic grating that served as floor, as its grunts and corrupted wails grimly set the note.

Immediately, as the Shadow disappeared, Riko rushed to Daisuke, holding onto his shoulder, shaking him, trying to get a reaction as he just stared down, as the last remnants of the monstrosity fell into the abyss of impossible space below.

"Daisuke, Daisuke!" Riko continued to call him, until he finally snapped out of it and looked at her, "Ryo-kun's hurt. We need to call Yuuki to heal h—Oh my God, your hands!"

"I'm fine," he yanked his right hand away from hers, biting his lip as he felt the pain and blood run from the injury, "Tell Maki to call them… Whatever we're looking for: It's down here."

She didn't avoid another concerned look at his hands before she rushed back through the opening on the wall. Daisuke looked around at the room where he stood: With the chaos that him and the giant Shadow had caused during their fight it was harder to have a perception of what that room truly was at first. However, after some time deliberating, he concluded it most likely was part of the Intense Care Unit. What still mystified him, however, was why that floor looked less like the real hospital overrun by vegetable life forms, and more like a slaughterhouse covered in blood and rust. Was it part of Toriumi-senpai's cognition? Or was it something else? The veins on the walls made him think it had more to it.

He walked back to where his sword had remained, caught in the grating. He swiped at the air in front of him but regretted it, as the threads on the hilt of the sword pressed painfully against his cut palms. He tried to avoid holding the sword against the palm of his right hand, using his fingers to grip it, and then returned to where his friends were. Ryoji was still sat against the wall, both hands holding the back of his head as Maki kneeled to his right, worried. Riko stood next to them, holding on to both her kusarigama and Ryoji's spear.

"Ryo-kun hit his head against the wall when he was thrown," Riko informed as he walked closer, "Maki-chan already contacted Tatsu and the others."

"Did they find anything?"

"She... We didn't ask," she admitted. It was clear they had completely put the search for clues on the backburner, "But he didn't say anything, so probably not."

 _I expected that much,_ he thought, _this floor is too different, too unique to be a coincidence. That Shadow was too strong to just be a random mook._

"Senpai!"

He was startled by Maki's sudden outburst. It was if she had suddenly felt something, her Stand picking something up as she pointed behind him. As him and Riko turned around to follow the girl's instruction, they saw them:

A large group of phantom patients were walking towards them. Wearing hospital gowns and dragging what seemed to be IVs with them, unaffected by the grated floor. All of them lacked hair, and had the same skinny, frail build as the screaming patient in the locked room. Their spectral bodies cast an ominous cold blue light around them.

While one couldn't really tell if they were copies of each other, due to their lack of a face, that was the clear impression they gave. As the spectres walked forward, they mumbled something, a unified whisper that was hard to understand, but was very clearly being chanted in unison, like a prayer. Or a curse. Just as their fallen brethren had chanted.

As they reached the middle of the corridor, their bare feet stopped over the grating. Their heads risen from their bowed state, eye-less clean fronts staring upwards towards the ceiling. The chanting raising in volume. Now clearly discernible.

" _Curse the fiends. Curse the town. The chosen few. Curse the fiends. Light take us. Curse the town. By blood made. Curse the few. By blood cleansed. The chosen few. Light save us. The Fool. Light's Champion. Curse the fiends. The chosen few. In a dream we shall live. In a dream we shall live."_

No one among Daisuke's party knew what to say or do, enraptured as they were by the chanting of the phantoms. That felt differently than to anything they had experienced so far in the Shadow World. The chanting was constant, and yet it seemed to repeat lines with no actual structure or flow to them. The raspy voices of the phantoms had no gender, no tone to them. It was a chaotic mess of rising and lowering pitches. Daisuke could feel his ears ringing and hurting as he heard it. He had to stop the chanting, he couldn't continue to hear it, and yet, he wanted to hear it. To understand what it meant. Who were they praying to. What were they praying for.

 _"_ _In a dream of light. Born from blood. By blood made. The Fool. Light's Champion. Dream of Light. Light take us. Light save us. Oh light, king and queen of blood. Curse the fiends. Take us to your dream. Proud Father. Sweet Mother. Light. Take us to your dream."_

As suddenly as the chanting had risen in volume, it too stopped. The phantoms remained motionless, heads turned upwards, clutching their IV stands. Then, they screamed. Chilling, terrifying. The screams of the phantom patients were high pitched, distorted, haunting wails, pain and sorrow unleashed as a growl like lost children seeking a missing mother. A mother that would never return to them.

Daisuke had his teeth gritted, his earing shot up by the banshee like cries of the phantoms. He shouted Lazarus's name, or at least he thought he did, as his own voice was lost among the lament. A glaive of crystal cut through the choir, slashing through the midst of the congregation. Then a second swing, and then a third. Like what happened to the previous patient, they disappeared the instant the blade touched them, yet the screams still rung for longer. Daisuke felt his legs give out and he fell forward on his knees and elbows, hands holding his ears as the wailing and the pain made him lose his reason, his own voice, his friends' voices all converging together. The chanting and the screams had stopped, yet in his head, they still echoed loud as a church bell. He felt as if his head was about to explode, his hands burning, his side and arm reopened again, his eyes gouged. _Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me!_

And suddenly: it stopped. He felt someone touch him, holding onto his shoulders, shaking him. Someone was talking to him, he knew they were, but he couldn't hear them, he couldn't understand their words. _Curse the fiends. Make it stop!_ His eyes were glued shut, his heartbeat faster than a freight train. _A dream of light. Kill me!_ He felt the hands on his shoulders pull him back onto a kneeling position and then someone holding onto him tightly. Pulling his shocked body into a tight, strong embrace. Their voice, whomever was calling him was like a beckoning bell he tried to reach. The chanting and the screams were still filling his head. His own screams joining the deadly choir.

"Daisuke!"

He opened his eyes, vision blurred and filled with black spots. He smelt a familiar sweet scent, felt soft curls brush against his face. As his senses returned, he moved his arms around the waist of the Yukino that was kneeling in front of him. Her cries interrupted as she felt him hug her back. He felt the pain on his palms, yet the scars on his body had not reopened, his eyes could still see.

"Daicchi!" she cried out, momentarily pulling herself from the tight embrace to look at his face. She touched his face with both hands, before once more holding tightly onto him, "I'm here. I'm here.."

As his sight slowly returned, he could see the slaughterhouse-like corridors once more, however, the light source was no longer the phantoms chanting, but instead a ball of white light floating by the ceiling. Yukino was holding onto him, but she was not the only one there. Riko sat against the wall, her head against Tatsuya's shoulder, as he gently passed his hand through her hair and mumbled something only they could hear. The first years were opposite them, holding onto each other as Garm checked on them, his ears laying down. Shiro stood alone on the middle of the room, underneath the light source he undoubtedly had created, whilst keeping his sabre raised as he looked around.

"What happened?" Daisuke asked. His voice sounded strange to himself, it was if it was the first time he had heard it in years, "How are you here?"

"Maki-chan called us with her Stand, don't you remember that?" she used her hands to clean tears from her face, "We were already tracking back when Garmicchi felt something and told us you were in danger."

"And... you found us here?"

"You were all on the ground, screaming and shaking," she looked mortified, her voice was hoarse, "We didn't know what to do. We thought you had gone insane."

 _I don't know if I didn't,_ Daisuke thought. His ears still rang, his head hurt like it was being cleaved in two. He held Yukino's arms, trying to let go of her grip and stand up. As he rose back to his feet, despite Yukino's pulling efforts to keep him kneeling next to her, he felt the pain in his head get much worse, to the point where it threatened to throw him to the ground again.

"Let me heal your hands at least," she demanded more than asked, as she clutched both of his hands on her own.

Arabella appeared behind Yukino as her hands began to glow in a warm blue light. Daisuke felt a pinch of pain, followed by a strange numbness as his wounds closed around themselves. The blood he had smeared on himself, the girl and his sword remained where it was, a reminder. She sighed after she finished her operation, looking worried at him some more, before going to inspect and treat Ryoji.

"What happened here?" Shiro asked Daisuke, once they crossed sights, "Was it some Shadow?"

"No," he shook his head, but had to immediately hold it, as the pain came flooding back again, "Well, yes and no. We were attacked by a giant Shadow. That's how I cut my hands and Ryoji was hurt."

"But that wasn't what left all four of you like that, right?" Shiro poked.

"It wasn't, no," he confirmed, "Phantoms. Lots of them. They began to chant something, like some sort of prayer while staring at the ceiling."

Shiro clutched his chin, deep in thought, looking at the orb of light over his head: "And then?"

"And then they began to scream…" Riko replied. She hadn't moved since Daisuke had last saw her, still clutching Tatsuya with all the strength she could muster, "I felt like I was going to die. Like my head was going to explode."

"Do you think they were part of the dungeon originally?" Shiro asked, looking back to Daisuke.

"I don't know. They looked like patients, so maybe. But this floor, the Shadow we fought and those phantom patients, they all clash with the rest of the dungeon," he looked down at his hands, seeing the freshly healed cuts, "We need to keep moving."

"Keep going!?"

To his surprise, it wasn't Shiro who replied, but instead it was Tatsuya who spoke, still sitting against the wall, clutching the hurting Riko against him. He looked livid and incredulous:

"Are you mad!? Have you looked at your friends? We're not in a condition to keep going."

"We can't give up now," Daisuke rebutted, walking towards him, but feeling his legs wobbly and shaky, "What if the killer comes back and destroys this place? We won't have proof, we won't know how he did it. What happened to Toriumi-senpai?"

"Toriumi-senpai is dead, Daisuke! We are alive! What is more important to you!?"

An uncomfortable, smothering silence took over the corridor, as no one dared to speak, Tatsuya's demanding question echoing off the enclosed walls. _My friends_ , Daisuke thought at first, but was that really his answer? If he really cared about them more than wanting to find out the truth, why was he insisting on taking them, battered and hurt, along for more punishment, for more mortal danger?

"Look, mate, I know that you have it in your head that you must do this," the blond boy continued, his tone much less fiery, "That this is your chance to make up for what you did wrong before. I get it. All of us want to stop the killer too, we do. But we're not ready to die to do it."

"I won't let you die," Daisuke responded, weakly as he felt his head throbbing.

"That's not the point," Tatsuya shook his head, finally getting up, helping Riko also standing up, placing her arm over his shoulders, "We're not just worried about us. We're worried about you, you complete idiot."

"Me?"

"We don't want you to kill yourself to save us," it was Riko who talked, not Tatsuya, "You keep putting yourself recklessly in danger. Tatsuya is right, you know? You always try to do too much, to always take all the weight on your shoulders. Do you think we like to see you bleeding out and with broken bones every time? We don't. None of us."

He had no words to say. Both Tatsuya and Riko's expressions were sincere, they weren't speaking just as a means to try and convince him to retreat. In fact, it pained him to notice that they had most likely discussed that before. As Daisuke turned to look at the others, he saw Ryoji nod, even as he still held his head, Maki and Garm looked at him expectantly, Yukino looked away from him, towards the ground, just as Shiro did, behind him. _Am I really that selfish? Do I really don't care if I live or die? No. No, they're wrong. I care. Right?_

"Tatsuya," Daisuke called after silent introspection, "You're the leader now, not me."

"I don't want to—"

"Until I can sort out what I want," he looked at him, interrupting the blonde's protests, "I'm not fit to lead. I trust you more than I trust myself. If you want to retreat, I will follow you."

Tatsuya pondered on the meaning of his words, as all eyes had now moved from Daisuke to him. He wasn't expecting to have leadership thrown on him, as he now had the fates of his friends on his own hands, He closed his eyes for a moment, before swallowing and then blinked and looked to the others:

"Ok, let's retreat. We'll come back when we're stronger."

Tatsuya made a gesture with his head towards the stairs and went towards them, beginning to climb them, step after step, helping Riko as he did. Garm and the first years, using each other as support followed.

"This is a chance we may not have again," Shiro whispered, as he approached the stationary Daisuke, "Is it wise of us to reject it?"

"I don't know," Daisuke shook his head honestly. He looked towards the stairs, where Yukino looked at him expectantly, "But even if we lose this chance, we'll create another one. He won't kill again."

Shiro closed his eyes, smiling to himself, staying in place as Daisuke advanced to meet Yukino at the stairs, before he eventually followed after the others. As they eventually reached the entrance once more and exited through it back onto the night air and the fog, Daisuke looked back at the vine and flowers covering the building, cursing himself for not discovering whatever was hidden at the bottom of it. One thing he could say he had, however, was that it hadn't been completely in vain: Even if he could not understand it at the moment, or maybe for the days to come, he had an unshakable feeling that the chanting phantoms could be the key to solving whatever secrets were hidden in the depths of the Shadow World. If he could somehow decrypt it.


	30. Ch 30: Lost

**Ch 30 - Lost**

It had become almost routine for him now. Every few nights, sometimes two in a row, he would be violently woken up from his sleep, his pyjamas drenched in sweat as he breathed irregularly, clutching his head, trying to cover his ears. The encounter with the phantom patients in Toriumi's dungeon had left him mentally scarred, their chanting and screaming enveloping his sleep and his dreams. Most of the times, the nightmares were just the memory of his encounter with them, deep underground in that hellish slaughterhouse-turned hospital floor. Other times, they'd overtake his dreams and his thoughts, their screams changing the scenery into the vein covered Shadow World, as they raised their screeching, otherworldly voices towards the blood red moon above their sickly, phantasmagorical heads.

Once, following a rude, painful awakening from his nightmares, he had received a call from a distraught Riko, as she too had been ripped from her sleep by the screams in her head. It wasn't something that Tatsuya, Yukino or Shiro could understand. They hadn't been there, they hadn't heard them. Daisuke had asked Garm to sleep by his side for a few days, as he had avoided the nightmare the last time he had done so. Once the nightmares returned, perhaps even grimmer and more terrifying than before, he gave up on that theory, telling Garm to return to his usual resting place by Aunt Saeko's feet. He'd rather keep Garm in the dark at the depths of his night terrors.

Aunt Saeko, as was only natural, had become well aware of how sleep deprived and miserable he was. It wasn't hard to notice after all, as he had grown paler and with dark circles underneath his eyes. Looking distinctly sickish. He had told her he was just dreading the return to classes and staying up late to conclude Sakakibara's massive amount of summer homework, but it didn't seem as if she completely believed him, if at all. He had never been the best liar, and with his current handicap, he wouldn't get better anytime soon.

What most concerned him, however, was how he would catch himself distractedly chanting to himself. As he was reading up on the homework, as he was finishing his last few days of part-time work on LuckyLand: he would be muttering to himself parts of the chant. His mind would insert them onto his thoughts, every moment of silence a new step closer to impending madness. He had taken to trying to be listening to music or something of the sort at all times when he was alone, trying his damnedest to keep his mind and his mouth away from those verses that tormented him. Yet, that seemed to be proving as unhelpful as sleeping by Garm's side to ward the nightmares. It seemed more and more likely that it was only a matter of time before he would snap for good. Lost in his own head.

As the last day of Summer holidays arrived, and the team regrouped in Daisuke's house, once more huddled around the table, morale was at an all time low. Not only had they let the killer get away with a new murder, but even their excursion into the depths of the Shadow World to find answers had resulted in them hurt, and their organization in disarray.

"So... Today is the last day we have without classes," Tatsuya announced. For all his normal jokes and hyperbole, ever since Daisuke had passed to him the role of leader, the blond had become much more grounded and serious, "Hum... So you haven't seen anything on the Watch, right?"

"Nothing at all since Maki-chan's," Riko confirmed. It wasn't new information to any of them. "I've been checking every foggy night. Only thing that comes up is static."

"Which normally would mean he hasn't done anything since senpai died," Tatsuya crossed arms, "But Toriumi-senpai didn't have a Watch in the first place, so does that mean he hasn't been active? Or... has he found a way to stop the Watch?"

"The stronger Shadow presence may be interfering with the Watch," Garm admitted, as he put his paws on the table to make himself more visible, "A 'Human-Shadow' is normally so strong compared to the mobs that it's signal is broadcast clearly. But if the concentration of powerful Shadows increases..."

"Then Toriumi-senpai's Shadow wouldn't appear on it," Yukino completed.

Garm nodded: "That's my theory at least."

"Fuck..." Tatsuya expressed the general feeling out loud, "The Watch is useless then... What about the hospital? Should we go there again?"

Tatsuya's question failed to grab a decisive answer, as none of the others present seemed too keen on sharing their intentions just then. Not only was there a very high possibility that there was nothing there for them to find now, or ever. But it was hard to produce the motivation to go there again after half of the group had nearly died within its depths. To say nothing about the fact that, even if they had survived, the physical and psychological damage they had suffered there had not gone away; maybe it never would.

"Daisuke?" Tatsuya asked him directly, his sight unwavering from him, "I want to hear what you think: Do you think we should go there again?"

 _Yes_ , was the answer he wanted to give. Ever since they had left he had wanted to return. Yet, one look to his companions was enough to tell him that besides himself, perhaps only Shiro and Garm would want to go with him. After his hubris had nearly gotten them all killed, and him on the edge of madness, he wasn't ready to force his choices on his friends.

"I don't know," he said then, shaking his head, "At this point, I don't know if it would even help."

"So we're _not_ going...?" Tatsuya's inflection was caught halfway between a question and a statement, "Ok, so, what do we do now? Do we, like, go to Akaashi's house?"

"No, that would be unwise of us," Shiro answered, passing one hand through his auburn hair, getting his fringe off his eyes, "My sister has intensified her surveillance. She is closely monitoring both Akaashi and Daisuke. Meeting here in his house is already suspicious enough. A mistake on my part, for not warning you."

"So Detective Kuronuma is back to thinking Daisuke could be the culprit?" Yukino's voiced betrayed her worry.

"She never really did think he _wasn't_ one of the strongest possibilities," Shiro admitted, "Despite my best efforts to try and present Daisuke as innocent to her, the truth is: he does look like a very likely suspect. Especially after Toriumi-senpai's death. I believe she and the rest of the force will most likely issue a provisional arrest for whichever of the two acts out first."

Besides the closer surveillance, that wasn't really surprising to him, or at least, not really new information. With another murder in the town, the police were surely itching for an arrest. They couldn't yet prove or even really equate how the murders had been carried out, but the circumstantial evidence and identity of the victims pointed to those two potential culprits. When he had spoken to Asuka Kuronuma, he had perceived her as being as smart and astute as her younger brother, however, without a full understanding of the Shadow World, no detective, even the most skilled one, could really solve that case conclusively. She wouldn't act in haste, however, he could presume that much.

"So... what now?" Tatsuya asked.

"Now, we wait," Shiro opined, "It is best if Daisuke and the rest of us resume acting like regular students to avoid drawing suspicion to him."

"What if Akaashi kills someone else?" Riko asked, in a lower voice than she probably wanted.

"If I had to bet, he won't do anything for the next few weeks. Even if the officers shadowing him are in plain clothes, he most likely knows he is being watched."

"Then..." Tatsuya let out a sigh, "We wait."

* * *

September saw the students return to the routine in Budoga, with classes ramping up in intensity as the school year had progressed, or maybe the lack of proper schoolwork during holidays had thrown the students off the learning rhythm. Whatever it was, putting on his uniform every morning again and having to endure Sakakibara's lectures did nothing to improve Daisuke's mood. He continued to sleep poorly, his mind shutting down during most of class, as he kept thinking about the case. He had tried to focus on his stufies, trying to get his mind off Akaashi and the phantoms but he sometimes found himself scribbling parts of the chant or other assorted, related words on his notebook. He wanted to go to the hospital again, but he couldn't. Not with the others.

That morning was already plenty grey when he had left his house, aunt Saeko contributing to the poor mood by giving him what was now an almost trademarked concerned look as he left. Even if he had not spoken to his folks since he had left, Garm had told him that his aunt had been speaking to them about him on the phone more and more frequently, as she expressed genuine concern for her nephew's mental state. He wondered if his father would continue to enforce his policy of not speaking to him until his "year away" ended, or if he would cave in out of concern and pressure from Daisuke's mother.

"Ah, Daisuke, good morning."

He looked up from his shoes to see Shiro waving at him further up the hill. It never ceased to amaze him how, despite Shiro being as sleep deprived as he was, with his absurdly active mind, he never looked anything besides well-rested and full of energy. Even if his speech to the group had also gotten less and less hopeful and colder as time went on, his smile seemed to be the same as it always was. Daisuke had always envied his friend's skill at concealing his feelings with smiles and polite speech.

As Daisuke gave him an acknowledging nod and walked up to him, Shiro's expression hardened somewhat: "I've heard that you decided to quit the Kendo club."

"I have," he admitted, rubbing his eyes, trying to wipe the tiredness away, "I don't really feel up to it. I can't focus on anything right now. I think I would just bring everyone down as well."

Shiro glanced at him from the side but did not respond, keeping the silence between the two as they continued their march towards the school. Even if nothing in his expression indicated otherwise, Daisuke knew Shiro had a question loaded and ready to be fired. He was just awaiting for the right moment. Only as they reached and passed through the gates of the school, did his inquiry arrive: "Have you given up?"

It was Daisuke's turn to avoid an answer and a direct look. He even thought about asking "From kendo?" but it was obvious that wasn't what Shiro meant. Trying to circle the question would get him nothing but an annoyed look and a second, less soft question. Back when they had left the Hospital, Daisuke had once again reaffirmed his mission to stop the killings, but... Stupid as he felt it was, one of the reasons he had dropped kendo practice and the club altogether was how holding a sword, even a kendo one, just reminded him if his failure to keep his friends safe, how his previously unchallenged arrogance and selfishness had nearly cost him his life and, more importantly, his friends' lives. In his mind, no, he had not given up, he wanted to keep fighting and take down Akaashi, avenging the victims and redeeming his failures. But what of his heart, that instead wanted nothing but for him to lay down his weapon and accept how hopeless his situation was becoming? Even if they stopped Akaashi, what then? The feeling that there was more to the Shadow World than just a tool for Akaashi to murder was inescapable. Those phantoms were a reminder of that, and a premonition of something to come, he was certain. Something terrible. Something that he couldn't even hope to stop.

"Well, I will not repeat my question until you find an answer," there was a clear tone of disillusionment in the auburn-haired boy's voice, "Just know that it breaks my heart to see you like this. The Daisuke Ichijou I know would not give up until his last drop of blood was shed..." he pressed Daisuke's chest with a finger, "Is that Daisuke still there? Or is he already dead?"

He didn't have an answer for him, nor, it seemed, did Shiro expect one, as he resumed walking, disappearing within the school, not stopping to look back at Daisuke lost deep in his own mind. He stood there for a few moments longer, trying his best to untangle the mess in his head before finally making his way into the building, as the bell rang for the start of class. Without much surprise, once he slid the door of his classroom open, his classmates were already inside, as was Sakakibara, standing by the blackboard, book in his hand.

"Late again, Ichijou," the teacher commented with a disapproving look as he made his way across the room to sit behind Yukino by the window.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me," Sakakibara grumbled, looking back at his book, "Get here on time."

Daisuke nodded absent mindedly, producing his books and writing materials from his bag, as Sakakibara went on about the book he was holding in his hand, the title of which was hard to discern at the distance he was, yet he also didn't feel compelled to ask Riko or Yukino for it. He did glance at Riko by his side occasionally however, as, like him, she was also suffering from the same nightmares he was. Despite them, however, she looked a lot healthier after a few days, it seemed to him like her sleep schedule was slowly fixing itself. Something that he had also come to notice on Ryoji and Maki. For some reason that he was not yet sure about, it seemed like the nightmares and that whole situation with the phantoms had affected him the worst. His current theory was that his mind wasn't just suffering the after effects of the phantoms, but his current self-deprecation and lack of direction was amplifying the deterioration of his mental state. The depression would feed the nightmares, and the nightmares would feed the depression. A vicious cycle intent on crushing him under its weight.

"Well then," Sakakibara said, loudly closing the book and laying it down on his desk, "I have an announcement to make."

The teacher picked a sheet of paper that was on the desk. Apparently he had already entered with it, but had decided to finish class before giving the announcement. Perhaps, Daisuke wondered, he had waited precisely because Daisuke had arrived late: "President Yoshida asked all homeroom teachers to warn the students of an upcoming school trip for first and second years."

"Bloody brilliant..." Tatsuya grumbled in a low growl, "More rubbish hunting?"

"This trip is meant to promote an exchange of knowledge and the establishment of good relations with the students of Kaijo Academy."

 _Kaijo?_ Daisuke raised his head to look at Sakakibara, incapable of believing he had heard it correctly. _No,_ he thought, _that can't be right._

"Kaijo Academy is the premiere high school in Sonomura, or S-City as you call it. Its president, Oozora-san, has invited Budoga-Oka's first and second year students to visit Kaijo's installations and get to interact with its faculty and students over the next weekend, from the six to the eight."

Going back to the city. No, they couldn't. Not now, _not now._ Akaashi was seemingly more dangerous than he had ever been before, they couldn't rely on the Watch working anymore. How could they just leave town for a full weekend now? Even worse, Akaashi was a third year, so he was guaranteed to stay in town. Even under heavy surveillance by the police, he could still sneak out onto the Shadow World. Daisuke clutched his head as he felt it pound painfully. He couldn't go back to the City now. He wasn't ready to see the other members of the Ghosts, to reencounter the life he had abandoned. He was already kneeling down, barely holding on. That could be the last nail that would seal him away in a coffin at the bottom of a dark ocean.

Sakakibara went along with the announcement, giving details and useful information about when and how they would take the trip to the City, where they would be staying, what they would do there, and what would be expected of them. As the teacher talked, he felt Riko and Tatsuya take glances at him constantly, while Yukino did her best to try and discreetly look over her shoulder whenever Sakakibara didn't seem to be looking at the class. Tatsuya had eventually messaged the chatroom, hiding his phone underneath the table, but Daisuke hadn't bothered to go check what he had written. He felt numb. He felt sick.

* * *

The clouds that covered the sky had grown denser and denser as the morning turned to the afternoon. The darkened, intense skies warned of rain to come at any minute, as students left the school and disappeared from the streets. Daisuke had left the company of his friends before they had even had a chance to properly say their goodbyes. Really, he didn't want company, not for a while. He'd rather be alone with his thoughts for the time being. He didn't go back home, instead weaving through the streets and alleyways of the town, wandering as he let his mind consume itself, a snake biting at its own tail.

When he stopped, he noticed that his feet had made him walk all the way to the front of the hospital once again. Looking at the entryway, as clean and well-maintained as usual, his mind kept relapsing, bringing him the images of the ruinous, thorn covered hospital from the Shadow World. Ironic how a place meant for healing was the source of his continued anguish.

He stood against a wall, just looking at the building for a while, seeing as people walked in and out of it. His aunt was probably inside it, putting on another absurdly large shift. He took his phone from his pocket almost by instinct, his fingers stretching, approaching the app that would take him to the other side. From where he was standing, he would most likely appear straight in front of Toriumi's dungeon, he wouldn't have to rely on Maki's stand to be able to find it within the chaotic spiralling landscape. Just shift quickly to the other side and run by himself down the stairs back to where he had encountered the patients. If he went by himself, he wasn't putting the others in danger. Maybe there really wasn't anything there, maybe he was completely deluding himself; but he had to know. He moved his fingers and pushed on the app, yet didn't let go. Instead of activating it, he simply moved it to right side of the screen, letting go.

"What am I doing?" he asked out loud to himself, locking his phone and storing it in his pocket again, touching his face with his left hand.

He pushed himself away from the wall, hands in his pockets moving away from the hospital. What was he even thinking? After his friends had told him in no uncertain terms that they didn't want him to continue carelessly rushing forward. Was he really about to throw himself into the otherworld, by himself, for the infinitesimal chance that maybe he can find something there? Was that really his reason? Or was that just a pretext for him to fight and kill Shadows. For the rush of having to kill or be killed. For the pain of it all.

Once again, he wandered with no goal in site until coming his feet stopped by themselves. He wasn't quite sure how he had gotten there, given the strange roundabout path he had chosen in his trance, but he was now standing in front of Iwanaoya Shrine. He pondered on whether he should go back to walking, going home before the rain started to fall on his head, yet something compelled him to pass through the gate and into the shrine itself. Maybe, he thought, if he wasn't going to find answers by his own devices, perhaps seeking help from the divine could yield him better results. At that point, he'd take anything he could get.

Past the gate he didn't find a single person, only natural giving the delayed warnings of rains to come. He did find, however, birds teetering about the floor, and also perched over the shrine relics. He identified crows among the perched animals. A sign of ill omen, perhaps, or maybe of something else. He approached the offering box, dropping in them a few coins he had on his pocket before closing it back again. He then walked closer to the shrine itself.

 _Please, guide me._ Unsure what to do with the hands, he ended up clasping them close to his chest as he felt the first drops of rain fall on his head. _Give me a sign._ The slow drip-drops lasted for only a few seconds, as soon after the first drops fell, the clouds were open, and it started to rain heavily, completely drenching Daisuke after only a few seconds of silent prayer. He almost began to laugh at himself. His prayers for guidance and for signs to follow had been answered with rain and silence. It was almost funny, if not soul-crushing.

"Daisuke!"

The voice behind him was instantly recognizable to him. He could never mistake it, of course. He felt a sad smile appear on his face as he heard the voice's owner walk through the Shrine steps and puddles to approach him. He felt as his wet uniform shirt glued to his skin where Yukino's hand, and then forehead pressed on it. He refused himself to turn and look at her. He was afraid to see her face.

"I'm… I'm so glad I found you…" she mumbled, her voice barely audible over the loud splatter of the rain droplets on the shrine stones, "I was afraid you would've gone to the other side by yourself…"

He closed his eyes, biting his lip as he turned his head up, feeling the rain hit his face. He pondered for a second if he should admit to her that he had nearly done just that. If he wanted to burden her with that information, that hint of madness that his mind insisted on pursuing. He didn't get a chance to figure out what to say, however, as Yukino, moved from behind him to grasp his hand in hers, softly pulling to get him to follow after her:

"Come on, let's get away from the rain."

Without a word, he conceded, opening his eyes again, but letting himself be guided not by his sight but by her hand. Her hair and her clothes, much like his, completely soaked by the rain. When she turned to look at him over her shoulder, he could see strands of her hair glued to her face, and a worried expression in her grey eyes.

She brought him underneath a gazebo, just at the edge of the shrine and the small woods on the other side of it. They sat on a wooden bench, with their backs to a table made of the same stone that constituted the shrine steps, and, for a while, they didn't speak, just silently watching as the pouring rain continued to hit the ground ahead of them. Eventually, the sound of a cracking thunder was audible in the distance, followed by the caw of the crows, flying away from the shrine.

"How did you know I'd be here?" Daisuke asked. His voice sounded strange to him, grave and hoarse. It hurt him to speak.

"I assumed you'd be in front of the hospital," she said. Mimicking him, she also stared forward, "Since you weren't there, then maybe you would be somewhere around it. I remembered something then… Back when we were still helping Ryoji, we had a talk, a bit like this one, here in the shrine."

He remembered that talk well. How could he even think to forget it? He had told her about how scared he was of losing control, of becoming too enveloped in fighting that he'd lose the reason why he was fighting in the first place. In a roundabout way, he had fulfilled his own cursed prophecy, he thought. He felt his nails dig into the scarred palms of his hands, teeth gritted.

"I thought… Maybe you'd come here to think," she started to kick her legs forward distractedly, "It would be a very Daisuke thing to do, I suppose."

He mumbled something incomprehensible, not actual words, but something more along the lines of a tired sigh. Yukino, stopped her legs, turning her head to look at him. Her eyes seemed to exert some sort of strange pressure over him, like he couldn't look away from them, even in the poor light. Her hand reached for his again, but he pulled it away. He didn't want her to touch him. He didn't want her to feel how much his hand was shaking. _Don't drag her down with you._

"Daicchi…"

"I can't do it."

He clutched his head with both hands, his fingers digging deep into his wet hair, his lip trembling as he bent over forward while sitting, hiding his face from her. He didn't want her to touch him. He didn't want her to even look at him. He wanted her, and everyone else well, well away from him. Where they would be safe. Where he couldn't hurt them.

"I can't do it anymore. I'm not strong. I'm weak. I can't protect you. I can't protect anyone. I'm lost. I don't know what to do."

He almost jumped feeling Yukino's hand touch his shoulder. His hands were shaking as he turned on his seat to look at her. He felt the tears, tears he had sworn he would never shed in front of her, stream down his cheeks. Seeing her face made him lose what little control he still had:

"I don't know what to do! This is all my fault! Everything started when I came to this town! All my life, I've just been going from failure to failure! All I wanted was to fight! Because while I was fighting I didn't want to think. Maybe, if I was fighting… Maybe…"

 _I'd just go and die,_ he completed mentally, lacking the courage to say it out loud. He moved a hand in front of his mouth, feeling sick. Everything would just be so much better if he simply had never existed. Maybe Yumeno, Toriumi and everyone else who would lose their lives from his mistakes would still be alive and well. It was all his fault. He couldn't continue like that.

"Just…" he spoke through his fingers, avoiding her gaze, "Just leave me alone, please. I don't want you to… I don't want you to be here. To talk to me. I don't deserve you. I should just... I—"

Before he had a chance to continue his sentence, or react to it, she had launched herself at him, her arms wrapping closely around him, her deceptively strong arms pulling his head into her shoulder. He didn't have a reaction, he couldn't push her away, even if his brain kept telling him too. He felt tears escape his eyes again, and he closed them, letting himself cry against her shoulder, his hands clutching at the back of her shirt.

"Please…" he spoke, his voice barely coming through the sobbing, "Just let me go."

"You're wrong," she spoke to his ear, her voice was softer than he had ever heard her speak, yet still loud and clear over the rain, her breath warm on his ear, "The only reason I'm still alive, is because you and the others saved me. Because you, time and time again, helped me. The same goes for Tatsu, Rikocchi and the others. All of us… All of us are better because we met you. I don't want you to go away."

She alleviated the strength in her embrace, letting him back off slightly, looking at her face: her eyes also glistened with tears, however, her smile was as honest and affectionate as he had ever seen on her face. It was if she glowed. She caressed his face, pulling strands of his dark hair off his face:

"I know how much you are suffering," she whispered, "But… We're all here for you. Even if everything goes to hell, even if it really is hopeless: I want you to remember that I wouldn't trade being by your side for anything. I'll always be here for you. I promise."

 _Yukino…_ he had no words for her. How could he even reply to that? He had broken down in front of her, showed her how weak he really was, a bird with no wings, completely broken. And instead of going away, she had embraced him. He rose his hands to her face, feeling her soft skin against his fingers, her wet hair and her tears. He closed his eyes, leaning against her, touching her forehead with his. Their embrace growing closer, as they basked in each others warmth, finding solace from their pain in each other. Daisuke held her face, kissing her forehead, and then, meeting her lips with his. Both drenched from the rain, their faces wet with their tears, but as they kissed, it all seemed to go away, if just for a single moment. For as long as she was with him, her warmth, her love. Maybe he could afford himself to believe still.


End file.
